


Family of Troublemakers

by SuddenCruelty



Category: RWBY
Genre: AU, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 21:29:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 40,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6724231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuddenCruelty/pseuds/SuddenCruelty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cinder Fall and Roman Torchwick live happily with their three adopted children.</p>
<p>What could go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Happy Family

Sleeping soundly in bed until the woman was awoken by the sound of children laughing. “Mmm...what time is it?”, an arm reaching over her from behind to grab the smartphone on the nightstand and turned it on.

Resting his head on her shoulder as he looked at the time, “It’s one in the morning Cinder.”

“Sigh...go put them back to bed Roman.”

“I already did it last time.”

“I’m tired, you do it.”, eventually he gave in and kissed her cheek. “Goodnight Cinder.”, letting her drift back to sleep as he got out of bed. He instinctively grabbed his glasses,  his lighter and the pack on the nightstand to light one as he walked out of their bedroom and down the hallway where he could see the light was on from under the door.

Pushing the door open to find one green haired girl and multi-colored girl beating down a silver haired boy with pillows and him failing to guard their attacks with his own pillow. Though when they noticed Roman silently watching with the cigarette slowly burning they quickly attempted to hide the mess by tossing their pillows back to their beds before smiling ever so innocently.

Starring the three down before bringing his cigarette over the trashcan to tap the ashes off, “It’s one in the morning, you brats should be asleep.”, speaking with a serious tone though he spoke with a more whispered tone after, “...She’s not behind me right?”

They shook their heads and he sighed in relief as he walked inside and sat himself down on the comfy chair near their beds, “Really though, if you’re gonna play try and be more quiet otherwise Mama is gonna nag me.”

“Won’t she do it anyway?”, the silver child’s quick remark got him a face full of pillow as Roman grabbed the one on the bed and tossed it at him, “Shut up Mercury,” which also made the other two giggle.

“That reminds me though, I got passes to the new amusement park. You guys wanna ditch school today and go?”

Mercury and the multi-colored girl raised their hands in response though Roman looked towards the green haired girl, “What’s wrong Em? You actually like second grade?”

“..Is Mom gonna come?”

Thinking about it he remembered Emerald was more attached to Cinder for whatever reason but she’s been pretty busy lately, “You know she has her modeling thing keeping her busy....”, seeing her expression more saddened...

“...But I can try and convince her to come with us this time.”, and his sincere smile was able to lighten her expression.

“You always make it seem like I’m the bad parent.”, hearing her voice the group turned to the doorway to see Cinder wearing a tank top and shorts as she yawned, “Can you guys be any louder?”

“Heh, sorry bout that Cinds.”, trying to apologize for the rest of the group while she walked in and sat in Roman’s lap after picking up the multi-colored girl, “You know its wrong for Em, Merc, and you to skip right Neo?”, and she nodded.

“...But a little fun every once in awhile is good.”, which lightened everyone’s mood.

“So you can come?!”

“I have a meeting in the morning but I can meet you guys there later, is that okay?”

Emerald, “Yes!”

Neo and Mercury simply gave her a thumbs up which she took as a yes, leaning back into Roman’s chest so she could address him, “I trust that you’ll explain why Glynda is missing three kids later dear?”

Just thinking about the phone call made him dread it.....to Roman, Glynda is an old friend who knows him well enough to know when he’s lying so he was expecting in earful when he had to make the call, “God...I can feel my ears being stabbed already.”

Seeing him making pained faces made her chuckle and the others laugh before she kissed his cheek and returned her attention to the others while patting Neo’s head, “Now you three need to go to bed so you’ll have energy for tomorrow, okay?”

Setting Neo down and they nodded so Cinder and Roman made sure they got in bed and tucked them in, before turning off the light and closing the door behind them. As they walked back to their bedroom, “You sure you’re good for tomorrow, nothing important?”

“Nothing that really matters, besides, I needed a breather anyway.”, feeling his arms wrap around her as they got in their room, “If you say so sweetheart, back to bed?”

Leading him for them to roll onto the bed, “Night Roman.

“Night Cinder.”

\------

Walking with Mercury and Emerald at his sides while Neo was still small enough to ride on Roman with her legs hanging from his shoulders without being uncomfortable. Once they made to what looked like the open area before the rest of the park. “Alright guys, what do you wanna do?”

Though he was answered with silence and noticed both Emerald and Mercury had disappeared without a trace and he sighed. He tilted his head back to look at Neo while she looked down, “Guess it’s just us cupcake,” and he raised his fist for her to fistbump with her small hand which made them both smile.

Roman felt a bit relieved with just Neo since she wasn’t into rides that much and instead they ate, drank and watch some okay magic shows while also seeing Mercury and Emerald every now and then when they noticed them.

While they were walking out of a haunted house with Neo looking pale and clutching onto Roman’s hair and him laughing they noticed in the open area was a black haired girl with a red scarf looking around with a worried expression.

“Hey there, you lost Red?”, keeping a good enough distance that wouldn’t frighten her as he addressed her. She still looked worried, “I-I’m looking for my mom.”

“Got separated?”, she nodded.

“If you ask one of the workers here I’m sure they can help find them for you....but are you scared to talk to them?”

She looked too embarrassed to answer which Roman found pretty cute but understandable if you’re young and small, “I’m sure your mom has told you not to talk to or follow strangers right? Then make this the one exception, my name’s Roman, this little ball here is Neo.”, pointing above his head to Neo who waved at her.

She looked like she was easing up as she smiled and waved back at Neo, “I’m Ruby.”

“Come on, lets go see if your mom won’t come running when she hears about you.”, turning to the direction where he remembered seeing a security office door when he felt someone tug his jacket. Turning to see Ruby tugging before she raised her hand and it took him a second before finally getting it and took her hand.

After talking with security and a quick announcement over the intercom the trio waited patiently at a nearby bench while the girls were eating ice cream and Roman was away just a bit so he could smoke freely.

“Ruby!”, hearing a voice Roman turned as Ruby, “Mom! Yang!”, as Ruby jumped off the bench and dashed to a beautiful woman with black and red hair similar to her with a young girl sporting bright yellow hair.

“Thank goodness! Where did you go?”, her mother speaking with clear worry as Ruby quickly tried to explain everything while Roman hand in hand with Neo walked up, “She might be a little hyper with the sweets we’ve been eating while we were waiting.”

After steadying the hyper Ruby she looked up to see Roman and also noticed Neo who waved hi, “Thank you so much for finding Ruby.”

“Don’t mention it, though you should think about building up her confidence. She should at least be able to talk to the staff if she needs help.”

Looking a bit embarrassed after hearing that which made Roman think they were nearly copies of each other since their both pretty cute when they're embarrassed and act kind of the same way. “You’re right, and I’m Summer Rose, you’ve met Ruby and this is my oldest daughter Yang.”

The sisters looked up and waved for Roman to wave back, “Roman Torchwick, sweetheart here is Neo.”

“Nice to meet you both, but is there any way I can repay you?”

“Just forgive me for feeding little Red some sugar,” pointing behind her to see Yang covering her ears while Ruby was talking too fast for her to understand, “..she’ll probably burn out in half an hour or so.”

“Haha she’s always been a bit hyper but...oh!”, picking from her purse to pull out a card, “Here.”, and he took it.

Fixing his glasses so he could see it was a business card, “I own a little bakery close to Beacon Academy and I’d be happy to make a cake or two that you like for free.”

Flipping the card with his fingers to check it was a rather childish design but it looked elegant, “Cake huh....sounds like a good deal doesn’t it Neo?”, and Neo looked more than happy thinking about her favorite cake.

“Gone for a few hours and you’re already cheating on me Roman?”, stunned for a second and Neo being the cute bugger she is mimicked Roman’s actions as he glanced behind him. Together they looked at Cinder who wore a darkened red v-neck minidress as she had her hands on her hips and Emerald beside her.

Cracking a smile, “Of course not honey, I’d be crazy if I did.”

Cinder looked at him and Neo before taking a quick glance at Summer, Ruby and Yang before walking towards them, “Sorry if my husband is bothering you Miss, hes an idiot for cute people.”

“If I was, clearly I wouldn’t be with you being hot all the time,” saying with a low voice but he got weak punches from Neo and Emerald in return for that remark.

“Oh no! He helped my Ruby and I was just saying thanks,” scrambling through her purse to quickly pull out another business card to hand to Cinder who took it and looked at the card before smiling, “Do you take special orders as well?”

Summer looked closely at her, “Wait, aren’t yo-”

“Summer!”, turning to see a blonde man with interesting clothing come running, “You find Ruby?!”, looking panicked and Summer pointed to where Yang and Ruby was for him to sigh in relief.

“Ah this is my husband Tai Xiao Long and my name is Summer Rose....you’re Cinder Fall right?”

Hearing that Roman immediately tuned out the conversation since it was going to lead to the usual ‘You’re that model right?, You look so beautiful in that dress and etc.’

“You win anything after ditching us Em?”, nodding to his question as she pulled from her backpack an Ipad box, “I won it off my first spin!”

“Lucky kiddo,” patting her head which appeared to make her more happy though Roman saw out of the corner of his eye Mercury...except he was being held by his arm by security with what looked like another couple following, “Aw shit...”

“Swear!”, Emerald pointing at Roman and Neo copying her to add more emphasis and Roman made them knock it off before walking towards them.

“This kid yours sir?”

“Yes, what’s the problem?”

“Got into a bit of a fight but since hes a kid they’re willing to look past it and we’re looking to past it as well. Just make sure he doesn’t cause more trouble.”, letting go of Mercury’s arm before Roman gestured him to his side.

“I got it.”, hearing that the security guard left and the couple approached Roman and that’s when he noticed the man had a bandage on his nose and looked like dried blood. “Teach your kid to behave himself why don’t cha?”

Not wanting to start anything more and he only nodded even though he didn’t notice that Cinder, Summer and her family had walked over to them. He was about to turn, “Kid is just a violent rat.”, but stopped and even Mercury could tell Roman had snapped even though he had on the biggest smile ever.

“Mercury, go with your sisters and tell them to cover their ears and if the other girls are still here to cover their ears too.”, pushing Mercury forward over to Neo and Emerald as he turned back to the couple.

Cinder had already heard but knew it was too late to pull him back, “Oh no....”

“Say it again.”, quickly confronting the woman who said it, “Excuse me?”

“I said say it again you ugly bitch.”, and the woman and man were in complete shock by how he said it with a smile on face that didn’t show a hint of anger or malice.

Even though she seemed a bit afraid she thought to herself that she wasn’t gonna get let herself be intimidated by some random person, “I said your kid’s a rat.”

His cigarette quickly burned up, “...Say it one more time, go ahead.” and she about to say it when he let the cigarette fall from his lips onto her right foot and stomped on it to extinguish the flame while also stomping on her foot.

She held it in and didn't scream, “Bastard!”, but the man went down with a quick right straight from Roman before he focused back on the woman.

“Ouch....”, both Summer and Tai commented by how bloody the man’s nose was now.

Grabbing her face, “The next time you call any of my kids a rat, I’ll shove your head up your pathetic excuse of a boyfriend’s ass and then I’ll shove my foot up your ass so you can experience what's it like taking it from a real man. Understand?”

Though his words were terrifying what made her really afraid was that fact that he could say all that smiling and with a very happy tone. Then she nodded slowly, “Then take your pile of trash and piss off before I change my mind.”

Letting her go for her to stumble back on her ass before picking up her boyfriend and quickly running away. Taking a deep breath while he quickly re-lit another cigarette when he felt slender arms wrap around his chest, “Feel better?”

“Kinda.”, trying to assure Cinder he had his temper in check as he turned to Mercury, “So what happened Merc?”

“I was playing a game at a booth with some other kids when they came and started messing with everyone and...”

“And that’s why you gave him a bloody nose?”, and eventually Mercury gave a weak nod but instead of closing his eyes and readying himself to get hit. Roman instead patted his back, “Good, stand up to scumbags like that.”

Cheering up Mercury before he looked towards the Rose and Xiao-long family, “Sorry you had to see that, but you know how parents can get when its about your kids.”, trying to laugh it up and they did understand.

“Well since we’re all together why don’t we have lunch? My treat.”

While everyone was eating together, Ruby and Yang hit it off pretty well with Merc, Em and Neo and Cinder looked like she was enjoying herself talking with Summer and Tai. Though Roman sat at a different table to peaceful smoke and away from the group as he was still somewhat in a bad mood and didn’t want to ruin the tempo.

Though his focus was taken anyway when someone was poking his leg to see Neo who held up a cookie to him, “I don’t feel like eating kiddo.”, gesturing her to eat it though she kept it raised up to him.

“You know she doesn’t like when you’re in a bad mood.”, hearing Cinder as she sat to his right side and leaned her head against him. He spat out his cigarette onto to the ground before stepping on it to put it out, then picking up Neo.

Taking the cookie from her first, then he put it in her mouth, “Bite, we share remember?”, and Neo bite off half the cookie. Holding the other half of the cookie in front of Cinder for her to take a bite and him taking the last quarter left, “Thanks for worrying cupcake.”

Giving the small child a big hug which made him cheer up and slowly forget about what made him pissed off in the first place, “We still need to work on that temper of yours so you won’t beat up anymore people.”

“Hah, if its just me I’m fine with it, but remember when the spoiled rich kids in his class kept calling him that and he was depressed and ran away twice in a week?”

“Yes I remember. I also remember how you went nuclear on the counselor for brushing it aside and both Glynda and Ozpin had to hold you back from kicking his teeth in.”

“That prick was an idiot anyway.”, which at least made Cinder laugh so he felt he accomplished at least something today.

“Uncle?”, hearing Mercury’s voice as he came up from the left side, “What’s up Merc, finally lose your confidence talking to some pretty girls other than your sisters?”, taking stabs as even he noticed how careful he was talking and acting around the girl called Yang.

“No!”, looking embarrassed which made the three laugh before Roman focused back on to him, “Hah...well what is it?”

“I’m sorry...for ruining the trip...”

“....You didn’t ruin anything kid, just bad luck is all.”, trying to reassure him that there wasn’t much he could do about what happened today. “Tell you what. To lighten things up, we’ll do anything you want to do today Merc.”

Though that’s when Em came from Cinder’s side, “Dad, Mrs. Rose said they’re gonna take a ride on the ferris wheel.”

Nodding to that he turned back to Mercury, “Merc?”

“I..just want us to be together.”, showing a smile which made Roman feel a bit better rather than him being depressed over the matter.

“Good idea, lets go have some fun guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tend to think up other stories or just write on other things while I've thinking how to word my main work and figured I might as well put this one out.
> 
> I'll leave it open to possible new chapters since I'll likely think up some other short stories about this happy little family I'm going with while writing, but I do plan to release a new chapter on my main work in a few days.
> 
> Thanks for reading folks, have a good one.


	2. Movie Time

“I’ll handle it Junior...no I’m not going now it’s freaking ten o’clock, the office is empty by now. Just get some sleep and we’ll talk more about it tomorrow.”, finally hanging up after a long talk and he sighed into his chair while he was in his workroom.

“Uncle?”, “Dad?”, Knock. Glancing over his shoulder to see his doors open and the three children peeking their heads in from the right side. Grabbing his glasses and turning his chair, “What is it guys?”

Neo stuck her right hand out holding what looked like a blu-ray case while Mercury and Emerald said together, “Movie time?”

Crossing his arms as he thought about it...it was the weekend so Cinder is usually hanging out with her friends from work for the night so....”Sure, why not?”, getting up from his chair to walk and grab the case from little Neo while they followed him down the stairs back to the living room.

Glancing at the top side of the disc and it only had the words ‘Grudge’ on it and he was trying to remember where he heard this movie...but regardless he stuck it in.

Using the remote he turned off the lights and plopped on the couch where Neo assumed her spot by sitting in his lap while Emerald sat on his left side and Mercury sat on his right side with a big bowl of popcorn.

As the movie slowly progressed it hit Roman pretty quickly why the movie was familiar... _Oh shit...._ and Emerald was already clutching to his arm whenever the spirit of the young boy came on screen while Mercury was covering his ears whenever the sound of a cat meowing escalated. Neo herself was barely watching as she turned around and was hiding her face in his shirt.

He’d remember watching this once with Glynda and some other kids when he was young so he wasn’t as scared or surprised as the memory came back to him....though it did make him avoid looking at the window whenever he was inside a car for awhile. And when that scene came where the Grudge came from the car window made the kids yelp and him jump a little bit...

Eventually time passed as they endured the rest of the movie until the end but only Roman still had his eyes open while Mercury was covering his, Emerald had her eyes closed while holding on to him and Neo was latched to his chest. “...Movies over guys, you can open your eyes now.”

Though they were hesitant and didn’t listen for a minute or so until they opened their eyes, and even though it was nearly midnight he figured they’d have bad dreams if sleeping after that. He made them sit at the dinner table while he started following some recipe to bake a chocolate cake. “Dad!”

Recognizing the voice to turn and see Emerald tugging his shirt while pointing up, “I heard something upstairs!”

“..Come on Em, it was just a movie you’re probably just hearing things.”, and for a second he thought he could hear something too....he turned the temperature on the oven lower, “Neo, don’t let Merc touch it okay?”

“Why do you have to tell her that?”

“Cause I know you Merc.”, addressing him while he walked out to the hallway and could see up the stairs yet it was completely dark with the lights not on. He pulled out his phone and turned on the light as he ascended up the stairs while noticing Emerald was clutching to his back.

Once he made it to the top and was on the second floor he flipped the switch for the light to turn on....and immediately blow out, making Emerald jump and leaving only the light from his phone shining down the strangely eerie hallway. “Damn lights...”

Though this time he could hear the sound better even though they were still faint...like very light footsteps. Recognizing that something was indeed inside the house, he held Emerald’s hand as they slowly stepped into his workroom, “Take this.”, handing his phone to Emerald as she was shining the light at his doorway while he scrambled for his keys to open a drawer.

Pulling it open to reveal a glock with a silver slide which he loaded with one of the magazines inside and grabbing a flashlight. As he looked out into the dark hallway he stepped out with Emerald behind him, “Go back down with your brother and sister and stay in the living room away from the windows.”

She nodded and ran downstairs as he shined the flashlight down the hallway after switching off the safety and aiming. He could still hear the steps as he took it one step at a time towards the end of the hallway passing his and Cinder’s room and the kids rooms which left the guest room at the end...

By the time he got to the door the sound stopped as if reacting to him, so he took his hand off the doorknob and instead kicked it opened. Shining the light across the room to see the desk was empty, the bed was empty, the closet door was closed and the window was open. He tried the lights but they didn’t turned on and assumed they were broken as well. “God..the hell is wrong with the lights today..”

“Dad?”, “Uncle?”, hearing their voices. “Stay there.”, answering back to them as he approached the closet door. He was actually very tense as he had his hand on the doorknob...till he opened and jumped back to aim at what was an empty closet. Making sure it was empty, “Man..can’t believe I let a movie get to me...”

But as he said that he turned when he heard the sound of something running and immediately fired for the flash of the gun to light up his vision for a brief second. Shining his light where he fired to see a bullet hole under the window while their was a white cat looking frightened under it, and seeing the cat made him drop to his knees, “Goddamn...”

The cat itself slowly approached before nuzzling against his hand which he responded by petting it’s head, “Dumb cat...”

“Dad! Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine kids.”, addressing them as he picked up the cat which kept meowing at him as he went back downstairs after turning the safety back on. He passed the cat to Neo who hugged the cat as someone knocked on the door.

Opening it to see a woman who looked like she was in college along with what looked like a younger version of her and they were both sporting silver hair, “Is..everything alright? We heard a gunshot.”

Looking past the two to see a few other families standing outside and even one of the men had a gun with him too, “Sorry about that folks, feline intruder got the jump on me.”, pointing to the cat that Neo was holding and everyone seemed to sigh in relief.

The other families started leaving but the silver haired paired were still standing and Roman noticed the little one was staring at the cat while the older one looked like they were embarrassed for no reason but he pieced it together, “....Is that your cat Miss?”, pointing to the cat.

Her face seemed to get redder which...“I’m gonna take the fact that you're turning into a tomato, which is pretty cute, also means yes this is your cat.”

“...I’m very sorry, for causing a mess.”

“Let’s just not speak about this and save face for both of us alright?”, which she nodded and Roman picked up the cat and carefully handed it to the younger one who said, “Thank you.”

“Oh. I’m Winter Schnee and this is my little sister Weiss, we just moved in next door today.”

“Roman Torchwick, that’s Mercury, Emerald, and Neo. Say hi kids.”

“Hi.”, Merc and Em said together while Neo simply waved and the sisters waved back.

“Should probably head back now, I’m sure a college kid like you has plans for the weekend. Goodnight Winter, Weiss.”

“Goodnight Roman.”, “Goodnight Mr. Torchwick.”, watching them leave before closing his door and sighing as he walked back to the kitchen with the kids.

He unloaded the gun and placed it in an open cabinet so the kids couldn’t reach it before turning the oven off and pulling out a surprisingly not burnt chocolate cake. They also heard the door being unlocked and saw Cinder come in, “I saw a bunch of our neighbors walking home, something happen?”

Cutting pieces of the cake for the kids before just gesturing her to sit down and passing her a slice too, “It’s a long and embarrassing story.”


	3. Dinner

“Surprising to see you here today Roman.”, washing a glass while speaking to Roman who had his head on the counter.

“Cinder and the kids are visiting her sister Salem for the weekend since schools closed for something till Wednesday.”

“And you didn’t want to go?”

Slamming his fist on the counter, “Yeah cause I have to manage this club and four others we own!”

Stopping to put the glass down, “Alright, I got an old buddy that can take some of the load off for you.”

“Thank Christ....I’m tired of seeing number after number...”

Pouring a small glass before setting it in front of him, “Drink up, it’ll make you feel better.”

Hesitant at first since he already a bit of a headache before downing the drink. And that's when they heard the crash which made them look to the side to see a drunken man on the floor with a smile on his face.

“Crap, this drunk again....”

Junior stepped out of the bar and walked with Roman to see the man up close, “Regular?”

“Our best regular, Detective Qrow Branwen. Qrow, get up!”

Though the man was too drunk to listen and just started laughing which made him sigh while Roman reached inside the man’s jacket to pull a wallet, “Hold on I’ll call a cab.”

Finding his badge but he looked at his driver’s license to check his address before putting it back, “No need I’ll drive him home.”

“You sure?”

“Driver’s license says his place is on the way to my house so yeah.”

“Alright, Adel!”

“Yes?”, hearing a smooth feminine voice and Roman looked up since he was on one knee to first see breasts wrapped with a bandana before seeing a pretty face with her eyes hidden by shades. “Get a mop will yah?”

She nodded and walked away when Roman gestured for Junior’s ear, “Please tell me that girl is 21.”

Hesitating at first, “....I was gonna tell you. She’s hot, she’s a tease and a crowd pleaser, we’ve been getting way more poor saps since she’s started.”

“Sigh...just send me her information and I’ll deal with it so we don’t get into more trouble.”, picking up the Detective who was hollering at nearby girls and cheering words of gibberish.

Getting him out of the club and out into the street before putting the drunk in the passenger seat before he got into the driver seat. And as he turned the ignition key to hear the engine he heard tapping to see the girl, Adel, tapping on his window so he rolled it down, “Here Boss, figured you might need it.”

Handing him a coffee cup and it was pretty warm, which made him look back to her as she had on a rather cute smile, “...Why do you need the job?”

“I need the money.” and at least he got an easy answer.

He turned the coffee cup for a few seconds thinking....“You seem like a good kid, but it's not gonna be good if we get caught with a minor working here...but get my number from Junior and we’ll talk about it, preferably this week, got it?”

She seemed elated as she suddenly pulled and hugged him but he pushed her back, “Sorry, just thank you. I’m Coco Adel.”, shaking her hand.

“Roman Torchwick, now try not to cross the line and start flashing for the idiots alright?”, she nodded and walked backed into the club while Roman drove off and sipped the warm coffee.

He tried offering to Qrow but he had already fallen asleep so he silently finished the rest as he followed his usual route back home until he made a right turn to enter a different neighborhood. Most of the houses already had their lights off until he saw one even though the blinds in the window were preventing him from seeing inside, but it matched the address.

Parking his car in the driveway of the home since it was empty and he’d be quick anyway. Grabbing Qrow’s arm to put it over his shoulders as he carried him around his car and through the stone walkway to the front door.

Readjusting his hold on Qrow before knocking on the door, after a few seconds the door open and Roman had to look down a bit and tilted his head as he looked at the black haired girl who stared back. “Ruby?”

“Roman! Uncle Qrow!”, she at first seemed happy to see him before she looked towards Qrow and she opened the door, “Mom! Roman brought Uncle Qrow!”

Yelling into the house and Roman saw Yang peek her head from the couch before she saw Summer peek from the kitchen as she was washing her hands, “Roman? Oh...”

Roman carried Qrow through and Summer met them halfway, “What happened?”

“He got drunk in one of my clubs and since you’re place is close by to my home I drove him here, he got a room to sleep in?”

“Oh, yes. Follow me.”, guiding him through the house and he followed until they reached a large room where there was two beds while he could hear someone showering. “That’s his bed.”, pointing for him so Roman could gently lay Qrow down before she led him back to the living room.

“Heh, we just keep owing you huh?”

“Don’t worry about it, but I should be on my way then.”

“Oh wait, would you like to stay for dinner? I heard your family was away for the weekend.”

Confused, “Where’d you hear that?”

She pulled out her phone, “Cinder called me before she left and told me to visit you with the kids since she figured you’d be lonely.”

And before he could say anything his phone rang and he checked to see he was getting a video call from Cinder. Answering it for the screen to show Merc, Em, Neo and Cinder.

“Hi Dad!”, “Hey Uncle.”, Wave, “Hello honey.”

“Hey kids, hey dear. You guys having fun?”

“Yeah!”, seeing their smiles made him pretty happy and thought it was cute when Neo was trying to show him that she found a four-leaf clover.

Cinder gestured the kids to go play as she took up the screen, “Guessing from the background you’re at Summer’s place?”

“It’s only been a day and you thought I’d be lonely without you guys?”

“Aren’t you?”

“...Maybe.”

“See? I’m always thinking about you, aren’t I? Anyway I gotta go now Roman, love you. Say goodnight kids.”

“Night Dad!”, “Night Uncle,” Wave with a smile. Waving them bye as the call ended and put away his phone before turning back to smiling Summer with a rather eager looking Ruby and Yang.

“You don’t mind do you?”

“Of course not! The more the merrier.”

He tried helping out with cooking but Summer insisted on doing it herself so instead he chose to entertain the children with some simple card tricks he’d pick up when he was bored.

“How’d you do that?!”, Ruby examining the cards trying to figure it out while Yang...”Do you have cards here?, was pulling to check the inside of his sleeves.

“Never reveal your tricks kids,” and he pulled out two cards from behind Yang’s left ear and revealed it to be the cards they chose earlier. 

Though he followed their eyes and turned to see a tall woman with long flowing black hair wearing a grey tank and black shorts with a towel around her shoulders. But the first thing that hit him was the fact that she looked way more like Yang....or rather Yang looked more like her than Summer.

“Who...”

Holding his hands up, “Wait, I’m not a suspicious person,” immediately blurting that out when Summer glanced in, “Oh Raven, he’s a guest. Go get dressed already.”

She stared at Roman as if she was trying to remember where he was from even though Roman himself has never seen this woman before and just smiled until she left to go get dressed.

After setting everything up Roman sat on one end and was next to Yang while Summer sat on the other next to Ruby, “You’re husband still at work?”

“Ah yes, he’s been sick for a few days so he’s doing overtime to make up for it.”

Raven came back more dressed and now his eyes floated to the shoulder holster over her white shirt, “Oh yeah, this is my...sister-in-law Raven Branwen, she’s a detective like Qrow.”

He stuck on that pause and figured she was lying about that but figured it wasn’t his place to ask, every family's got secrets that they even hide from other members of the family. “Nice to meet you, Roman Torchwick.”

Though she was surprisingly cold and just took a glance before she started eating while Summer was trying to talk to her. Roman shrugged it off when he heard a ping from his phone to see another video call from Cinder and he accepted except it was only Neo on screen.

She waved first before putting a finger to her lips which he knew meant to not talk before she used hand signs,  _ Are you having fun Daddy? _

Glancing up from his phone to see Summer still trying to talk to Raven who was simply nodding and likely hearing things in one ear and out the other while Ruby and Yang were playing with their food which made him chuckle,  _ Yes I’m having fun sweetie. _

_ Can you tell me another one of your stories? _ , for Roman he usually always read a story for Neo before she went to sleep but she hadn’t ask for one in awhile so it was kind of surprising to hear about it again.

_ I don’t have my journal so I might mess up, is that okay? _ , she simply nodded before he could see she got back in bed and figured she had the phone propped up.

_Okay honey, back when I was..._


	4. Model Visitors

“Alright...you’re good Ms. Fall.”, hearing that she finally relaxed as she could let go of the pose after so long. With the photos taken she looked to sit in an open seat and rest her feet she could hear other models and staff talking nearby.

“Here you are Ms. Fall.”, hearing her name she turned to see a young woman with a clipboard handing a cup of what smelled like green tea. ‘Thank you Melissa.”, drinking from the cup made her feel more refreshed than she thought it would.

Though her eyes moved to a mirror that was aways away but she could still see her reflection as she looked at her herself and what she was wearing. Melissa followed her eyes to the mirror, “Hm? Is there something wrong Ms. Fall?”

Since the shoot was for a new lingerie line it was all she was wearing, it was black that matched her hair color yet the design made it give off a more dominatrix feel, “Ms. Fall?”

Snapping back to focus, “Oh, sorry. I was just wondering if my husband would like something like this.”

She chuckled before smiling even though Cinder didn’t catch when she looked up from her, “I’m certain many men would like to see their wives wear what you’re wearing at least once Ms. Fall. Since you’re already wearing it you can feel free to keep it, think of it like a present for being our hot cover star.”

“Gotta admit, it makes me see you in a slightly different way.”, recognizing his voice she tilted her head back to see Roman’s smile before he leaned down to kiss her lips. “Hey honey.”, she got up from her chair to see Roman with Emerald on his left and Mercury who was holding Neo’s hand to his right.

“What are you doing here?”

“Kids wanted to see you and you were running a bit later than usual for a weekday...”

“That’s my fault Mr. Torchwick, we’ve had some trouble with our equipment and we’ve had to keep your wife and our models until we could get quality replacements.”, quickly taking the responsibility before she turned back to Cinder.

“Why don’t you go get changed Ms. Fall? And feel free to take your family to the cafeteria for a snack.”, Cinder nodded and told them to wait here while she went to go change.

“Why the heck is auntie wearing that...?”, hearing Mercury’s question and Roman couldn’t help but pat his head. “When you find a girl as hot as your auntie, you’ll want her to wear the same thing Merc.”

“Mom is pretty, right Neo?”, and Neo agreed with Emerald’s opinion while Roman himself took to looking around. While he’d met some of Cinder’s co-workers before he’d never bothered to actually remember names since he knew he’d see them once in a blue moon.

Though his eyes gravitated to one model who looked surprisingly familiar...except she wore white feather lingerie and had on white wings.....“Hey kids...does that snow angel over there look familiar?”

They followed where he was pointing and they were looking and thinking yet nothing came to mind except for Neo who tugged his sleeve to get his attention, _Isn’t that our new neighbor Daddy?_

“Winter? Can’t be....though it does kind of look like her.” and while he and the kids were still wondering the real identity of the snow angel...

“Oh my god...why are they here...”, speaking to herself in a low voice as she recognized Roman and the kids. “Hmm? You okay Winter?”, hearing a voice to turn and see Melissa.

“Y-yes Melissa, was just caught off guard. I didn’t expect to see a family here.”

“Oh?..Oh you mean Mr. Torchwick and his children? He’s the owner of some of the clubs that most of our employees frequent so you should say hello when you have the time.”

Glancing behind her to catch the family looking at her before turning back to Melissa, “...I’d rather not.”

“Hmmm...you didn’t strike me as the shy type Winter, if you’re worried about him hitting on you I can assure you that it’ll only be in good fun.”

“It’s a personal issue...and I’d rather not be known to wear this kind of stuff...”

“You shouldn’t worry about doing some modeling Winter, there are college students that do unfortunate things to help pay for school so you should consider yourself lucky. But I understand....Oh, did you need something Mr. Torchwick?”

Stunned hearing that Winter didn’t dare turn around and just stood still while she could tell Roman was behind her, “Sorry for interrupting Miss but Melissa, I needed to know if you still wanted to reserve that party for next week at Hell’s Rift.”

She flipped through some papers on her clipboard before focusing back on Roman, “Can you increase the list from 30 to 45? We have some members coming from our sister branch overseas as well.”

“Then we’ll clear the rest of the second floor, though it’ll cost more. Is that fine?”

“Of course....actually, would you like to come as well Miss?”, addressing Winter who was silent and a bit red for being so _underdress_ near someone she didn’t expect nor want to know about this. “I think I’ll pass,” going for a more high pitch voice so he wouldn’t notice.

Though Melissa smiled when looking at Winter before looking to Roman, “Make that 46 please.”

“Got it and...”, putting a hand on Winter’s shoulder, much to her surprise. “I promise not to tell little Weiss, but you look good as a snow angel Winter.”, and she didn’t even have to look to know that he was laughing on the inside from how effective his words were on her at this moment.

“Ready honey?”, at first thinking he was still talking to her when she noticed Cinder and she had already recognized her on the cover for numerous fashion magazines. “Yes, who is this?”

“This is our new neighbor who moved in next door with her baby sister, Winter Schnee.”, patting her shoulder before slightly pushing her to Cinder. Cinder smiled and extended a hand, “Cinder Fall, nice to finally meet you.”

Figuring there was no point in hiding...“Winter Schnee...and its nice to meet you Ms. Fall, you’re pretty famous.”

“We’re neighbors so call me Cinder, and excuse my husband’s teasing. He just likes taking a few pot shots at new people, but why don’t we have dinner sometime?”

“That would be...pleasant.”

“Well then, I look forward to seeing you later and....it’s not polite to stare you three.”, Winter followed Cinder’s stare as she saw peeking from Roman’s left side was Mercury, Emerald and Neo looking up at her.

“Pretty...”, and she immediately covered her behind before turning so that she was now facing the three and Roman which in her case wasn’t any better. “Um..I think my shoot is up. See you guys...”, and she disappeared in a flash and the family couldn’t help but laugh while they headed for the elevators.

“She was cute, but are you guys hungry?”

“We were gonna ask you the same thing since you’ve been here all day.”

“Then let’s see what the company’s cafeteria has to offer.”, nodding to that Cinder pressed for the second floor and they took the ride down.

The got their food and headed to the lounge area to eat and it was mostly Neo messing with Mercury while Emerald stole his food and Cinder chuckling at them when Roman noticed he got a text.

[Hey Boss, it’s Coco. I know you wanted to meet this week, is Friday a good day?]

“Coco?”, realizing that Cinder was leaning her head on his right shoulder while looking at his text. “A new hot girl that Junior hired without telling me.”

“What are you meeting her for?”

“She works the bar and I’m pretty sure she’s at best, a sophomore in high school.”

“If she listens and she's pretty, what's the problem?”

“Legal issues, and our clubs aren’t exactly squeaky clean so it’s not uncommon to see a few cops come by either.”

She pulled away to wipe something off Neo’s face as she thought and turned back to him, “Why doesn’t she come to the house after you drop off the kids? We’ll see if we can’t work something out together.”

Thinking about it for a bit but honestly....it’d be interesting since Coco reminded him just a little bit of Cinder when he met her, especially her......quick invasions of personal space. [Get my address from Junior and come by my home at ten.]

After a few minutes of cleaning after the kids and getting ready to leave he received a text back, [Okay!]


	5. Good Morning

Blinking his eyes open to at first see the ceiling before rolling slightly to first see the face of a sleeping Neo before seeing Cinder’s back behind her. Neo blinked her eyes tiredly and copied Roman’s motion to rub her eyes just as he did, “Had a nightmare kiddo?”

Nod. Roman smiled as he playfully rubbed her head, “Wake us up next time so we can at least hug you back to sleep.”, hugging her and he could see she was happy after it. He reached past her and carefully over Cinder to grab his phone to see it was five in the morning.

“Wanna make breakfast with me my little monkey?”

Nod.

“Come on then,” getting out of the bed and headed out as he heard her tiny footsteps right behind him. Though as he got to bottom of the stairs first he turned quickly as he heard her to catch Neo when she tripped off the stairs, “You okay sweetie?”

Setting her down for her to check herself before giving a thumbs up, “No running the stairs then okay?”, and after that she followed him into the kitchen. He started by getting the coffeemaker brewing first before he got ingredients from the fridge.

Getting started by cooking slices of bacon after he lifted up Neo onto a chair to the counter opposite of the stove, “Can you break the eggs into that bowl Neo?”, and taking a second to look away to grab an egg and cracked it against the edge before pouring it into the bowl, “Just like that okay? Crack...five more eggs.”

Nod, and watching her hit it against the counter a few times before cracking it and pouring it so he could go back to frying the rest of the bacon. After finishing it up he got out the bread and that’s when he heard two pairs of footsteps coming from the stairs and glancing behind to see Mercury and Emerald looking tired and rubbing one of their eyes.

“Morning guys, who wants to set the table and who wants to go wake up Mom?”, hearing that it took them a few seconds before Merc came into the kitchen while Emerald went back upstairs.

Neo poked Roman’s shoulder to point him to the bowl with the eggs and he helped her down, “Go help your brother then.”

Nod, and she went to help the half asleep Mercury while Roman got started on making scrambled eggs while on another pan he had two slices of bread with melting cheese cooking while he had two other slices of bread in the toaster.

Roman had Mercury bring one plate at a time from the table to him to give what he ended up fixing up, grilled cheese, bacon and egg sandwich. By the time all the food was set and Neo and Mercury were already eating, Emerald showed up while pulling Cinder’s hand down the stairs to enter the kitchen.

“Morning Cinder.”, she yawned first before gesturing Emerald to go eat while she walked around the table to slump onto Roman’s back as he was pouring coffee and rested her head over his right shoulder, “Morning babe.”

“Need some coffee?”, holding it up to her before he kissed her cheek to see her smile when she took the coffee, “Yeah I do, thanks honey.”, returning the kiss before she turned back to sit at the table.

Getting his own coffee before sitting at the table while Merc and Em woke up enough to already start messing with each other with Neo silently cheering them on. Cinder herself was eating and trying not to laugh when things got a bit messy on the kids side, but Roman just looked at these three acting crazy like monkeys...but they were his and Cinder’s monkeys and he couldn’t be happier.

After they ate and the kids were getting ready, “You sure?”, washing the dishes while Cinder grabbed the keys off the hook, “Yeah, I need to pick something up from the store anyway. Be back.”

Kissing him before she left through the front door when the kids came down, “Bye Dad,” “Later Uncle,” and Neo came to hug him from behind and smiled at her before she followed them then he saw them wave from the car through the window as they drove off.

After the dishes, cleaning out his ashtray and cleaning up his office a bit he decided to take a shower. Though by the time he finished and at least got his pants on he heard loud knocking coming from the front and figured it was Cinder, yet it didn’t cross his mind as to why she would knock and...“I feel like I’m forgetting something...”

Opening the door to not seeing Cinder but instead seeing a short brown haired buxom girl wearing a black low cut t-shirt and brown shorts that barely covered up her legs with her usual shades on, who he remembered as Coco Adel. “Hey boss and...wow , nice tats.”

Seeing her look him up and down while paying attention to the tattoos he’d gotten when he was younger and hung out with a crowd that wasn’t with goody-two-shoes Glynda. “....Meeting at...”, pulling his phone to check it was the time, “..ten..right...uh...why don’t you sit in the living room while I go make myself decent?”

Gesturing her in before closing the door and she looked around the home before returning her eyes back to her boss who went upstairs. Though as she was looking around waiting her phone rang and she answered, [Hey Vel, what’s up?]

[Coco, where are you?!]

Picking up the pictures on the mantle, [Relax, I’m somewhere safe.]

[B-but where are you? If you’re ditching again, the teacher is gonna be mad at you.]

[She’s always mad at me...and I’m at my boss’ place at the moment.]

[...Why are you at your boss’ place?]

Looking at the cute and happy pictures as she got a good look at the family, [To talk about me working...though I didn’t expect him to be a hottie...or that he’d have a hot wife.], seeing a picture of Cinder in a bikini while the family appeared to be at the beach.

[What are you thinking Coco?....No don’t tell me, just finish your meeting and come back to school before they blow up on you.]

“Done looking?”, and hearing that she turned around as she hung up to see Roman dressed now even though she still had the tattoos and the tone body in her mind...“You alright Adel?”, gently tapping her shoulder for her to refocus.

“Y-yeah boss.”, hearing that was enough for him and gestured her to come sit at the round table in the kitchen.

“I’m not gonna waste time here and just say that there’s really nothing stopping me from letting you go Adel and the fact that you’re age alone is a risk makes it even easier. But tell me, why should I continue to let you work at our place?”

“Well...unlike Junior, a girl like me can bring in more guys and with my personality I’m confident I can make them keep coming back.”

“Sounds like the easiest way to piss someone off and make a few stalkers, which is drama I don’t need....are you currently in any type of romantic relationship?”

“Why...”, she scooched her chair closer to him, “..interested?”

Cracking his fingers before making sure his wedding ring was visible to her, “I’m happily married, but even if I wasn’t I’m not that interested in kids. Though I’ll give you one and say that physically, you’re a type I’d strike for.”

Even though the shades covered her eyes he noticed her expression seemed a bit more..happy? After that last piece, “Hmm...no I’m not seeing anyone at the moment. But why would that matter to my employment?”

“A jealous boyfriend or girlfriend that knows you’ll flirt with 20-30 men and women wearing barely anything is a time-bomb waiting to happen and like I said before, I don’t need drama. Do you live with your family or do you live alone?”

“I’m sharing a home with one girl my age, a boy my age and one college guy.”

Looking over the files to eventually find the one that confirmed what she said was true, “Got any weaknesses?”

Crossing her arms as she leaned back into the chair and closed her eyes as she was thinking, “I’ll admit that sometimes I let things go too far...”, seeing him tip his glasses as he was looking at her, “....but I’ve always been able to recover from whatever I could have gotten into.”

“Hmm...anything else?”

“Can a soft spot for hot people be considered a weakness?”, seeing her wink at him which made him chuckle, “Considering the workplace it certainly would be..and for the record, you couldn’t handle me even if I went along with it.”

“Sounds like a challenge, I love a good challenge.”, moving her chair a bit closer though Roman just raised her file to put a wall between their faces, “You would be the type to say that wouldn’t you? Other than the money, why do you want to work as a bartender?”

“I like meeting people, making connections, learning stories. It’s interesting to say the least.”

“So your goal is social networking? Hmmm....”, though his attention turned to the living room when he heard the front door open to hear, “I’m home,” before seeing Cinder come in with a plastic bag.

“Welcome back.”, acknowledging her while she came to drop the bag off in the kitchen, “So, guessing you’re Coco?”

And she was staring a little bit too long at Cinder before she answered, “Y-yeah...are you..?”

“Cinder Fall, nice to meet you...”, Cinder herself looked at Coco’s figure before smiling at Roman, “I like her, you should keep her.”

“You barely looked at her for ten seconds and those ten seconds were probably staring at her chest.”, pulling up a chair to sit next to Roman as she looked over the files as well. “And you’re saying you weren’t looking at her assets as well?”

He sighed at first before picking up one paper that appeared to be her work schedule, “And apparently I’m the one that’s always being asked if I’m cheating.”

She hugged him even though he wasn’t paying attention, “You know I’m always teasing you when I say that.”

Trying to warm him up with her cute side which Coco thought was funny, “How are your studies? Is working late having an effect on your daily life?”

“I’m a B-average student, but if I feel like I’m falling behind I can just study with my best friend. She’s pretty smart.”

Roman scanned through the other files and honestly thought her situation seemed fine even if he had to try to make a save if there was trouble but.....“Long as you keep up your grades you can keep working, can you manage that?”

“Of course!”, and Coco looked like they were victorious and Cinder clapped for her while Roman only felt that trouble was waiting but...he’d just deal with it when it comes up.

“Well, looking at the time you’ve missed you’re first and second period at least. Want a lift to school?”

“You don’t mind boss?”

Picking up his keys off the table, “I don’t mind, I need to go see Junior after I drop you off anyway. You staying home Cinder or do you have a shoot?”

“My shoot isn’t for a few hours....so I’ll hang out with you.”

Getting in his car with Cinder in the passenger seat and Coco in the backseat, “My school is-”

“Beacon Academy’s high school division right? I already know the way.”

While Roman was driving and Cinder was talking to him about something Coco didn’t know about she texted her friend, [Hey Velvet.]

[Coco! Are you still at your boss’ place?]

[He’s giving me a ride so I’ll be there in a bit but...]

[But what?]

[Is it wrong to be attracted to my boss and his wife at the same time?]


	6. Game Time

Peeking over the bed to see the orange haired man’s sleeping face before reaching out to poke him which only made him roll over after swatting his arm as if to hit something while she giggled. In a hush voice, “Neo! Let Dad sleep!”, gesturing her to come over to her and Neo with a frown listened as she left Roman’s room to follow Emerald downstairs.

As they went down together all they could hear was the sound of gunfire and explosions before they looked towards the living room to see Mercury playing team deathmatch in GTA 5, “Mercury turn it down. Mom said to let Dad sleep since he worked late last night.”

“Calm down Em, Uncle told me he slept through the sound of a shootout when he was younger. So this won’t wake him up. Wanna shoot some zombies Neo?”, closing the game and holding up a second PS4 controller as he clicked on the Resident Evil 6 icon for it to start up.

Neo ran around the couch as she took the controller and they started playing even though Emerald stole the remote and turned down the volume anyway. While the two were busy progressing through the game Emerald was doing her homework and checking Neo’s for mistakes.

“You do yours Mercury?”

“I’ll do it later, I still got all day.”

“Remember you brushed it off to the end once and Auntie gave you an earful for it? What if she decides to visit today?”

“Aunt Glyn comes by once in awhile and it’s usually just to talk with Uncle about something.”, and Emerald sighed before she got Neo to put down her controller for a few seconds as she pointed out the mistakes she made on her homework.

Knock, Knock.

With Mercury continuing to progress with the campaign and letting Neo fix her errors on her homework, only Emerald was left to get up and look through the peephole of the front door. And recognizing who it was she quickly opened the door, “Hi Auntie.”

“Hello dear.”, Mercury paused the game and looked over the couch with Neo to see the woman they knew as their teacher, Roman’s best(and longest) friend, and more intimately know her as their Aunt Glynda.

“Hey kids.” and while Mercury lost color in his face as if he jinxed himself, he regain it when she quickly spoke, “Is your Dad home?”

Letting her in before closing the door as she pointed up the stairs, “Dad is sleeping in his room.”

She looked at her watch first, “Sleeping huh...”, she went upstairs while Emerald rejoined her siblings yet they all raised an ear to hear what was coming up next...

“Roman...Roman, get up.”

“....Who the...oh for fu....go away Glynda I’m too tired to even joke with you right now.”

“It’s four pm Roman, you can’t sleep all day.”

Hearing his whine, “Please....I’ll give you free drinks for life at any of my clubs if you just let me go back to sleep....I was up substituting one of my employees all last night ...”

“No excuses, get up.”, and they first heard movement before the sounds of a struggle....Then a loud thud before they heard the sound of tapping, “Alright alright I’m up!”

The three took to the couch to peek over as they heard before seeing Roman come walking down from the steps holding his right arm as if he was injured while Glynda was following behind him as she cracked her knuckles. “And the teachers always said I was the violent one....why always me?”

“You’re the only one that ever gets my blood boiling Roman, you should have figured out why already.”

Waving her off as he walked over to the couch to pat Neo’s head while looking to the other two, “You guys eat already?”

“I made lunch!”, Emerald raised her hand, “Thanks Em.”, and gestured to go back to whatever they were doing while Roman walked to the kitchen with Glynda following him. “Sigh...so since you won’t let me go to sleep, why are you here Glynda?”

Mercury did just that and went back to playing games since he knew he was safe once Glynda entered a conversation with Roman while Emerald and Neo kept watch. Going to his fridge to get a beer and the second he popped it open it was swiped from his hand, “Come on give it back.”

“Drinking after you just woke up isn’t healthy for you Roman...especially since you probably drink too much when you work too.”

He swiped it back, “One, I don’t drink when I have to work in the clubs, and two why are you acting like my big sister? I’m closer to thirty than you are.”, immediately drinking his beer while he sat down at the table.

“Cause even after setting down you still don’t fully take care of yourself.”, pulling a chair for herself.

“I’m doing alright if I say so myself.”, pulling his pack to just put the cigarette between lips before it was snatched away with Glynda’s surprisingly fast hands. “You said you’d think about stopping your smoking.”

“Emphasis on think, I’ve been smoking for nearly a decade and a half and I still don’t have canc-”

“Don’t start with that”, seeing the serious expression on her face before she touched and her attention was focused on the handmade bracelet on her right hand. “...I’m sorry, I shouldn’t hav-.”

“It’s fine...if anything she’d congratulate you on your apparent blessing.”, accepting the situation and put away his pack while he took another sip from his beer can before pushing it next to Glynda, “You still haven’t told me why you’re visiting.”

Holding the beer to look between it and Roman, “A woman can’t just visit her best friend when she feels like it?”

“Are we talking about the same woman who, as a little girl, refused to tell me who was bullying her for almost two weeks and eventually made dear old me go on a punching spree on half the boys in her class?”

“You didn’t have to take it that far back then...you nearly got expelled for that....”

Remembering it made him pull out the pack and quickly light a smoke, “Not gonna exactly just hang back if I see you during break or during lunch with bloodshot eyes Glyndy.”

“I ended up having to bring you the worksheets and homework from all your classes for nearly three weeks....”

“The boys left you alone didn’t they?”

“Other girls said I was friends with a thug...”

“How much you wanna bet at least half those girls are either strippers or hookers by now?”

“Since I kept visiting people started talking about us...”

With that last comment he didn’t really think of a good way to push the topic elsewhere so there was an awkward silence......until they both simply laughed as they always did when they brought up their ‘stupid kid’ days.

“So, you gonna tell me what’s eating you?”

Glynda drank from the beer and by the sound it made when it touched the table it sounded empty, “I’m a grown woman, I can handle things myself.”

“You’re really gonna say that to my face when you’re in my house and drinking my beer?”and her cheeks looked slightly red as she stuck out her tongue at him which Roman could hear Em and Neo giggle from the couch.

He took his cigarette from his lips and licked his fingers to extinguish the flame, “Tell you what, lets play. I win, you tell me. You win, we drink till Cinder comes home.”, and Glynda accepted even though she knew that she herself was a lightweight and Roman would get her to talk about it when she was drunk anyway.

Listening to Roman the kids made space for Roman and Glynda with them sat together, Neo and Emerald sat next to Glynda and Mercury sat next to Roman. Starting with Mortal Kombat XL they continued to play a couple of matches with Em and Neo cheering their Aunt and Merc cheering Roman.

Though when they took a break to eat something, Glynda just drank and her playing got progressively worse while Roman suggested the kids to bring the chairs over instead of sitting with them on the couch.

Cause after her sixth loss Glynda got a bit punchy and complained that he was cheating before wanting a different game. They switched to Street Fighter V but the results were still the same as she continued to get more punchy when Mercury heard a knock on the door.

Mercury didn’t bother looking through the peephole and just opened the door to reveal Yang and Ruby with a blonde haired boy and a dark skinned boy with green hair carrying a Wii U box, “We came to play!”

Glancing back, “Uncle! Yang, Ruby, Sun, and Sage are here to play!”, suddenly they heard a thud as they ran over to see Glynda on top of Roman who was grabbing her by the wrists to stop her from beating him with a PS4 controller.

“Hi Roman!”

“Is that Ms. Goodwitch?”

“H-hey kids, you guys know how to plug it in right?”

Sun and Sage raised their hands in response, “Good good...Em can you grab the controller from your Auntie’s hand?”

She nodded and slowly got close to them when Roman twisted Glynda’s right wrist for a hot second so her grip loosened enough for Emerald to grab the controller away. “Got it!”

He let go of her wrists to grab her head to bring her to him to headbutt head on which appeared to stun her long enough to get off her him before picking her up to carry her over his shoulder. “Phew, I’m gonna go put Glynda in the guest bedroom. Emerald, can you order pizza and have them deliver okay?”

She nodded as she went with Neo to the kitchen to pick up the menu from a pizza place before they grabbed his Iphone to make the call. “Let me down stupid! Big meanie!,” and even though she was struggling he carried her up with ease.

Mercury pointed Sun and Sage to the TV as they got started plugging in the system though Sun got his attention, “Hey Merc, why’s teach here?”

Yang popping into the conversation as she noticed Ruby went to go say hi to Neo, “Yeah, are you guys related?”

“My Uncle says he’s known her since they were kids but no we’re not directly related.”

After plugging everything in Sage turned it on while Sun was handing out controllers, “It’s not like you have to be blood to be family though. Don’t you and Emerald have different last names than both your parents anyway?”

Switching the channel to show the title screen of Super Smash Bros Brawl as they noticed Roman coming back downstairs rubbing the right side of his jaw. “You okay Roman?”, and he looked down to see Ruby asking him and Neo waving at him for his attention.

“Yeah I’m good.”

“Dad! They say they’ll be here in forty-five minutes.”

“Alright, thanks Em.”

“Hey guys you playing?”, Yang and Sun got the others attention as they held up the other controllers.

To make the most space of the couch Roman sat on the ground in the middle with his back to the couch, Neo between his legs and Ruby sat next to him while the rest of the kids took the couch.

Sun - “Sage, back me up!”

Mercury - “Em, get the hammer!”

Yang - “Ruby get the pokeball!”

Roman - “I got’em Neo, get the smash ball!”

Sage - “Sun, look out!”

Emerald - “Run Mercury!”

Ruby - “Wahh, Yang help!”

Neo - elbowed Roman’s leg before pointing him to get the heart

They continued to play and didn’t notice the door was opened to hear the sounds of heels except for Roman who glanced back after he died in game to see Cinder carrying two pizzas boxes with Winter carrying two more and Weiss next to her, “You ordered pizza honey?”

“Yeah, sorry. Hey Weiss, wanna play for me?”, raising the controller and she seemed a bit hesitant until Winter pushed her to them. Roman got up and handed it to Weiss and showed her the controls before he went with Cinder and Winter to the kitchen.

“Just got off work?”

“Yes, and since I saw Winter waiting for a cab I offered a ride.”

“Thank you again Cinder.”

Cinder smiled, “Don’t mention it. By the way, I saw Glynda’s car outside, is she here?”

He pulled out two beers and a coke bottle for Winter before sitting back down, “She drank a bit and is sleeping upstairs in the guest bedroom.”

“Oh, did something happen?”

“Her dog Abel passed away this morning and she’s been holding it in since then.”

“You comforted her right?”, he stopped drinking for a second...“..Does drinking and beating her in videogames count?”

She couldn’t help but laugh, “Haha...oh that’s one way you guys comfort each other.”

“But I’m sure the drinks were holding her back and she let you win anyway.”

“Oh really? We haven’t played in awhile, wanna go a round?”

“You still haven’t beat me once Roman.”, Winter simply remained quiet because she found it funny seeing Cinder and Roman’s competitive sides clash.

And how in sync they were when they focused on one thing, “Kids! Grown ups are playing!”

The house basically split as Neo, Ruby and Weiss hung out and ate pizza with Winter while the rest of the kids were cheering Roman and Cinder as they competed in multiple games through the consoles available to them.

Though Winter looked to Weiss and smiled, “Are you having fun Weiss?”, she looked around to see what was happening in the house before returning a smile to her older sister. “Yeah!”


	7. Sequence

Blinking her eyes open to see the the falling red leaves before getting up. Looking left, right, forward and back to only see trees filled with red leaves that fall to the ground. It was beautiful to look at....but it was also someplace she’s never seen or been to before.

She walked carefully through the forest but everything seemed to be the same except...she began to feel something watching her. She hugged herself as the temperature in the air suddenly dropped in mere seconds as a fog began to form.

But when she looked ahead she saw a pair of yellow eyes through the fog and stepped back as the fog around the eyes dispersed to reveal a large black wolf. It growled and she was terrified when she started to see its sharp teeth, trying to run away only to trip on a branch when the wolf leapt at her.

Seeing it she only closed her eyes as she raised her arms, _ Daddy! _

Clang!, hearing the sound of metal she opened her eyes to see a figure dressed as a black knight was between her and the wolf. The wolf’s fangs clashed with the knight’s shield before it pushed it back and the wolf ran away.

The knight turned and kneeled down to her but she was still afraid until she recognized the voice, “You okay sweet pea?”, looking up to the knight for them to remove their helmet to see it was Roman who wore a concerned expression.

She immediately got up to hug him and just him being here had already made her fear disappear and felt safer,  _ Where are we? _

He looked around before returning his attention back to her, “I don’t know kiddo, but stick close to me okay?”, giving her his hand for her to take. They continued to walk through the forest but instead of it being the same like before it changed abruptly.

The trees seemed to be getting thinner as they walked and it began to snow. Even though she was still wondering why Roman was wearing a suit of armor, the snow made her feel only chilly... _ I wish I had my jacket.... _

“You cold Neo?”, she looked up to him before he looked around and let go of her hand to run up to a pull something off a low tree branch. Coming back to show her it was her jacket that Cinder got her a long time ago before helping her put it on, “Warmer?”

Nod. But she was surprised when he pulled to have her behind him before she saw what he saw....a pack of black wolves. They took steps back while the wolves took steps forward but Roman was trying to lead them where the trees and the snow was thickest until... “Time to go Neo!”, he turned around and quickly picked up Neo to run as they gave chase.

Even with the snow Neo noticed he no trouble sprinting in the snow with the armor on top of it but since he was holding her she could see that the wolves were still catching up. She tapped his shoulder for him to glance and see the wolves but he suddenly stopped which made her look.

The trees cleared up and in front of them it was only a steep slide down but they could make out what looked like a village all the way at the bottom of all the snow. Roman looked back to see the wolves still coming before looking down, “Hold on tight.”

She gripped what she could when he tossed the shield on the ground and used it as a board to slide down the snow. Neo opened her eyes to first just see that they were moving before looking back up to see the wolves stopped at the top. Tapping his shoulder again to get his attention for him to look back to see for himself that the wolves didn’t chase before he kept his focus on keeping his balance as they picked up speed going down.

Turning his legs to try and slow down but he saw the tip of a rock poking out in front of them and only hugged Neo tightly as they hit the rock that sent them flying into the snow. Neo opened her eyes first to see that they were at least at the bottom of the snow hill but once she realized she quickly dug out the snow covering Roman’s head. “T-t-thanks k-i-d-ddo.”

Looking like his face was frozen made her giggle before he pulled himself up out of the snow, “Whew...come on, maybe theres someone who knows where we are.”

Picking up the shield and leading the way with Neo following right behind him to find the village mostly snowed in except they could the silhouette of two figures ahead. “It’s your fault idiot!”

“You told me to deal with it, I did it didn’t I?!”, as they got closer they recognized the green haired child beating the silver haired child with a ball of snow. “Hey, enough you two.”

Roman addressed them which got their attention and they stood straight after seeing the seriousness on his face. Though Neo ran up and immediately hugged them both, feeling happy to see them safe. They were a bit confused but regardless they returned the hug which gave her more comfort.

“Hey Uncle, what’s with the armor?”, Mercury walked up to start poking the metal while Neo held hands with Emerald. “I don’t know, I was already wearing it when I woke up.”

“Dad look!”, Emerald exclaimed and pointed with Neo for him to turn and see a larger pack of black wolves than before and he thought he saw some black bears mixed in with them. He looked around for every house to be snowed in with no way to enter them except for up ahead he saw a church.

“Go to the church kids, now!”, telling them when he turned to raise his shield to push back a wolf about to strike him.

Neo squeezed Emerald’s hand as she ran and she looked back to see Mercury running behind and Roman knocking some wolves back before he started running after them as well. They got to the church and started trying to open the door but it was too frozen to open. “It won’t open!”

Seeing the pack of animals coming closer before she looked at the door,  _ Please open! _

“Move kids!”, and Neo felt herself pulled to the side by Mercury and Emerald when Roman charged to shoulder tackle the door for it to open. “Get in!”, he waited for them to get in before shutting the door close and using his body to push it when they started banging on the door.

Mercury and Emerald were trying to grab the chairs around to help pile against the door while Neo walked down the aisle to notice a woman with black hair that wore a white robe that resembled a priestess before the woman turned her head to let see a face she recognized.

_ Mommy! _ , running up for Cinder to embrace her, “Were you scared Neo?”

She nodded and pointed to the front of the church where Roman and them were still piling more stuff against the door,  _ T-the monsters that were chasing us are trying to get in. _

Cinder stroked her hair and only smiled, “Don’t worry honey, nothing will ever hurt you.”

That’s when they heard a loud crash and turned their eyes to where the bears had broken through but Roman used his shield to push them back while Emerald and Mercury ran to group with Neo and Cinder.

Even though Neo knew how Cinder was...she thought it was strange for her to be this calm...in fact everything was strange...

_ The red forest....the black monsters....Daddy in armor....no villagers..this has to be... _ , a thud brought her back to focus as Roman was knocked to the ground when the bear was raising its arm to smash him.

She ran towards him and grabbed his arm to pull but she couldn’t and looked to see the bear’s arm coming down before she closed her eyes.  _ Stop! _

Expecting the worse but after a few seconds she opened her eyes and saw the bear was frozen still and so were the rest of the animals.  _ This is.... _ feeling a warm hand touch her cheek to look down at Roman.

“That’s right, this is a dream. And no matter what, we’ll always be there for you.”

\----

Waking up to suddenly sit bolt up in her own bed as she saw a hand before looking to her right to see Roman, “Finally woke up huh kiddo? Come on, up outta bed or else you’re gonna be late."

Though as he about to leave she grabbed his hand to get his attention, “What’s wrong sweetheart?”

_ Daddy, have you seen snow? _

Thinking about it for a few seconds....”Ah! I remember going with your Aunt Glynda and her family to her villa when I was in high school...why? You wanna play in the snow?”

Nod.

“Heh alright kiddo, I’ll ask Glynda if we can do that when you guys have your break. I’ll even show you how to snowboard. Now come on, your breakfast is getting cold”, leaving the room before Neo got out of her bed and noticed a book on the floor.

After seeing the cover she smiled as she realized her dream was drawn from it, an adventure story....


	8. Small and Adorable

“Least its a good day, don’t cha think Em?”, sitting together on a park bench, Roman and Emerald leisurely ate their ice cream under the afternoon sun. “Yeah, but are you okay Dad? Didn’t you say you needed to send stuff this morning?”

“Eh your Uncle Junior pulled through for once and got me actual help so they’re dealing with it now. Though I didn’t expect to get some quality time with my green angel.”, playfully rubbing her head which in turn also messed up her hair.

“Hey stop it.”, whining at him to stop and he eventually did while laughing, “So why didn’t you want to go with Merc and Neo to play at Summer’s place?”

“Sigh....I guess I wanted a break? Like how you do when you say we have too much energy after we ate a bunch ofcandy.”

“Ah, I get it. Neo’s so much more hyper when shes near Ruby and your brother, being the special boy we love, either gets shy or talks very fast next to Yang.”, Roman finished his ice cream first and checked the time before stretching his arm over the bench to relax.

“Well take this little bit of time to rest then Em.”, she nodded as she finished her cone and like Roman got kind of sleepy as she ended up using him as a pillow since she leaned her head against him. Roman’s head dropped as he fell asleep because of how nice the day was.

“Ah look at that.”

“How adorable.”

While they were asleep they unknowingly gained some attention from passing mothers with their own children before a certain detective noticed them as well.

“Hey sis....Earth to sis, you there?”, waving his hand in front of her before she snapped to focus to look at him, ‘What Qrow?”

“What you looking at?”, and he followed where she was looking at to see the sleeping Roman and Emerald. “Huh...why does that guy look familiar?”

Sipping her coffee first, “That’s the guy that brought you home when you got drunk at his club, his name was....Roman Torchwick I think?”

“Oh really? Guess I should go over and thank him then.”, and Qrow seemed to start walking in their direction but Raven grabbed his shoulder to stop him. “He’s sleeping and looks like he’s with his kid, you can say your thanks next time you get drunk....cause it won’t be long before that happens again...”

Eying her for saying that last bit low enough in an attempt that he couldn’t hear, “We caught the guy didn’t we? I was just celebrating.”

“Right, and I’m stuck doing my paperwork and yours as well at the precinct.”

“Alright alright I’ll pay you back for it. Hmmm since Summer is friends with that guy maybe we can ask for a discount?”

“You’re just trying to find more reasons to drink.”

“Hey I’m just saying, sides he’s not a bad looking guy, and from how Rubes and Yang talk about him it sounds like his personality is a good match for your seriousness.”

“What’d I say Qrow? Leave my love life alone. Besides, he’s married.”

Putting his hands up to concede, “Oookay, just looking out for my baby sis and her happiness is all. Oh yeah you free this Friday? A buddy of mine invited me to some company party at a club, I already asked Tai and Summer, just you left sis.”

“...I’ll think about it.” The two detectives take their drinks and head back to their car before driving off.

Some time passes.....

Blinking her eyes open to see the park before stretching and accidently hitting Roman’s side though he was unfazed as he was still asleep. She rubbed her eyes before she heard low breathing...and it wasn’t Roman so she looked around before seeing what it was.

Since Roman fell asleep he had his legs straight and spread forward so she didn’t wonder how they stayed on but wondered why a small black and white corgi was sleeping on his left leg. She blinked twice to see if she seeing right before she carefully tried poking it.

Its response was a weak attempt to move its paw to stop her from poking which she found cute but she started nudging Roman awake, “Dad, dad wake up.”

Eventually he woke up and pulled his glasses back up before looking towards Emerald, “Oh man, that was a good nap. What’s up Em?”

“Look!”, she seemed excited as she pointed for him to see the corgi still sleeping on his leg.

“Oh hey a dog.”, raising his leg up a bit before he picked up the small corgi who was still sleeping through it. Once he tickled it’s belly a bit did it wake up and stared back at Roman who was looking at him, “Got something to say huh?”

Saying it like a street thug as he made a face at him which made Emerald laugh but the Corgi simply licked his face and made him accidently drop him onto his lap, “Ew gross.”

“Hehe I think he likes you dad.”, as he was wiping his face with his sleeve Emerald pointed him to the Corgi who was circling around on his lap before sitting down like it was his spot and looking up to him.

Petting the corgi, “Heh, you're cute but I’m already taken.”, and the pair found it adorable as he was headbutting his hand in response. “Alright what’s your name little buddy...”, pressing a finger against its chin to push it up so he could read the tag on it’s collar.

“Hmmm...your name is Zwei and....you’re Summer’s dog? Huh, guess you were out when I visited your family.”, pulling out his phone while Zwei remained in his lap and Emerald was messing around by poking his nose and his paws.

After a few rings they finally pick up, “Roman?”, hearing her voice before he noticed the sound of running water. “Hey Summer, sorry if I’m interrupting something.”

“Oh nothing like that I just got out of the shower is all,” and since he left it on speaker the pair and Zwei looked at each other after that comment. “Well, sorry to intrude but you wouldn’t happen be missing something small and adorable would you?”

Hearing her gasp as he listened to her rushing footsteps, “Ruby are you here?!”

“Here!”, hearing Ruby’s cheerful response made Roman chuckle before speaking, “Well I’ll admit Ruby is small and adorable, but I’m actually talking about something else. Here boy, say hi to Momma.”

Zwei barked into the phone, “Zwei?”, hearing the realization in her voice before hearing more steps along with the sound of a sliding door. “H-hold on, how is he with you?”

“I’m guessing he got out of your place when you were busy, cause I was sleeping on a park bench before Emerald woke me up to find little Zwei sleeping on my leg.”, and Zwei barked as if agreeing with him.

“W-well, what park are you at? I’ll come get him.”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll bring him home when I come pick up Merc and Neo. Say hi to the kids for me.”, and he hung up to pick up Zwei again.

“Let’s have some fun eh boy?”, he barked in response before Roman set him down and Emerald continued to play with him as they set off to have some fun before the day ends.


	9. Mr. Matchmaker

“Here Mom.”, Emerald raised a small box up to Cinder who was doing her makeup in front of the bathroom mirror. “Thanks honey, is Roman here yet?”

Taking the box from her to open it and put on the earrings that were inside, “Nope, Neo’s still watching for Dad’s car. Though do we really need a babysitter?”

“As much as I love and trust you three, I’d rather have someone else be here to watch you guys.”

“Well...who are they anyway?”

“She’s a high school girl and was vouched for by one of your Dad’s employees. Who knows, maybe she’ll become your best friend and be your regular babysitter.”

“How come Dad can’t watch us, isn’t this party for your work?”, finishing up with her lipstick. “The one who was suppose to work called in sick and it was too late to get someone so he’s filling in for them.”

Leaving the bathroom to head downstairs with Emerald behind her to find Mercury watching cartoons while Neo was looking out the main window before she waved for their attention to see Roman’s car. Opening the front door for Neo to run up and hug his legs, “Hey honey. You ready Cinder?”

“Yes I’m ready, where's the babysitter?”

“Introduce yourself sweetheart,” stepping aside to reveal a young girl with brown hair wearing a brown crop top with a black undershirt covering her stomach and brown shorts. “H-hi! I’m Velvet Scarlatina and I’m a friend of Coco. It’s nice to meet you.”

Cinder couldn’t help but smile at the nervous girl, “Relax Velvet, I don’t bite. But thank you for agreeing to babysit on such short notice.”

“No problem Ma’am!”, still seeming nervous which she found cute though Roman tapped Velvet’s shoulder as he pulled out his wallet.

Handing her a hundred dollar bill, “That should cover anything you want to eat if you order delivery and since I asked you just yesterday I’ll pay $20 in hour. Sound good?”

“Ah w-wait that sounds like too much...”

Patting her shoulder, “Don’t worry about it sweetheart, but we should be on our way. You kids be nice alright?”

“Okay.”, Mercury and Emerald responded while Neo did some kind of salute with a goofy expression. “Heh, if you’re still up we’ll see you guys tonight if not we’ll see you in the morning.”

Velvet saw them out as they left the house and got in Roman’s car before waving bye as they took off.

\-------

Parking in the lot across from Hell’s Rift to see a line waiting at the door, before they got and crossed the street. The bouncer didn’t even try stopping Cinder as she went straight in while Roman stopped, “Hey Walt, everyone got in okay?”

“All of Ms. Fall’s co-workers and their guests are accounted for cept for a few more Boss, you working the bar this time?”

“Did Mitch get better and come?”

“Nope, that shortie still ain’t here.”

“Well that answers your question, when you get a break come up and I’ll make you a drink.”

“Haha, I’ll go up when I got the time Boss.”, opening the door for Roman to already hear the music blaring from the narrow hallway. But at the end of the hallway it split even though both directions went to the main part of the club of the first floor.

He went to the elevator in the middle and lit a smoke as he waited for it to reach the second floor, though technically it was the third but Roman figured it easier to just separate the two parts of the club.

With the elevator doors opened, he found the music a bit lower but enough to dance to if they wanted as he saw Cinder already talking with Melissa and other models. The men to women ratio was definitely skewed but that’s the case with it mostly being models.

Quickly heading to the bar to throw his jacket up on a hook on the wall before rolling up his sleeves. It also didn’t take long for people to come to get drinks since the DJ announced his arrival and the opening to the bar.

Mixing and pouring the orders that came at the first rush until it slowed down a bit which gave him some time to relax and clean the glasses that were already used. “Roman?”, turning around after hearing his name to see a familiar face, “Would you look that, the Snow Angel really came.”

“D-don’t call me that...”, looking away from him to hide her embarrassment while trying to make sure no one else heard him. “You know if you react like that, it’ll only make me want to say it more. Sides, you look good Winter, what can I get you?”

Shaking her head, “Just water is fine, I don’t drink.”

“Come on, even though this is a bit classier than downstairs you’re still at a nightclub Winter. Plus the company is paying for it so what do you have to lose?”

“Well...you’re right. But I don’t know any drinks, what do you recommend?”

“You prefer sweet like candy or bitter like coffee?”

She seem to ponder it for a few seconds, “Hmm...sweet like candy I guess?”

“We got something in common then, though I’ll drink anything anyway.”, stepping away from her to go to his work station though he could see in the reflection of a mirror that she was leaning to the side to see what he was making.

He quickly came back to set an old-fashioned glass in front of her, she first noticed how the top half was white while the bottom half was a bit darker, “What is it?”

“I’ll tell you after you drink.”, gesturing as she held the drink and looked at it before seeing him with his usual charming smile.

Eventually she took a sip and she found it sweet, “It tastes like...something I’d have for dessert.”

“It’s a White Russian, and since you said you prefered sweet I used a bit less of vodka and used a bit more coffee liqueur.”

“Thanks Roman.”

“Anytime.”, watching her drink the rest as he pulled out a small towel, “So, interested in anyone here?”, and as expected she spat out some of the drink onto the counter which he quickly started to clean up as he was laughing.

“W-why would you ask that?!”

“Weiss has been talking to me the few times you asked if I could drive her to school and apparently your mother has been asking if you’ve got a boyfriend yet so that’s why I asked....plus....I honestly wanted to see your reaction, which was fantastic by the way.”, offering her a different small towel to wipe the drink that was dripping from her lips.

“...You really love messing with people don’t you?”

“Guilty, but honestly what’s your type? Jock, smart, ripped, average? Or do you swing the other way? Cause if that’s the case there's a lot of tail for you to chase here.”, pointing with his finger for her to follow as he was pointing to the one girl whose dress was so thin it could be counted as a string bikini.

Turning away, “N-no, I prefer men.”, making it clear though he couldn’t help but smile at how red her face was. “Well then there are a few stragglers wandering about...”

“Roman!”, hearing a familiar voice call his name he looked past Winter to see a stunning Summer waving her hand at him while she was coming with the dashing fellows known as Tai and Qrow and the beautiful but quiet woman, Raven.

“Wow, didn’t expect to see you guys here. Gotta admit though, you guys know how to dress up.”

“Hey, been meaning to say thanks for the trip home.”, Qrow extended a hand which Roman took and shook his hand, “Anytime Detective, but I can’t say I’ll always be there to drive you back. I don’t always go to the club.”

Tai- “Oh? Aren’t you the club owner?”

“Yeah but if we use my title then I’m the owner of four rather busy clubs and I can’t be in four places at once. I built the clubs with close partners who run them individually so I’m mostly management and records, sides I’ve had my fair share of being a bartender when I was in college. I wasn’t even planning on being here in the first place.”

Summer- “How come?”

“This is a party mainly for Cinder’s company and my guy who was suppose to be working called in sick today and I couldn’t find a sub quick enough so I’m filling in for tonight. Oh yeah, do you guys want anything to drink?”

Summer- “Oh I’ll just have a...margarita?”

Tai- “Ah I’m driving tonight so do you have green tea?”

Qrow- “Give me a Rusty Nail.”

Jotting down their orders before looking to Raven, “And what about you Detective?”, though she remained silent as she looked at him which he found strange but Qrow put his arm over her shoulders to bring her to him.

“Sis here will have a Rum runner, bit more rum if you don’t mind.”

“Got it Detective, want anything else Winter?”

“Oh no I’m fine...”, trying to shy away from the conversation though Summer pulled her back in. “Who’s your friend Roman?”

He smiled at another chance to mess with Winter as he tapped her shoulder while introducing her, “This here is my next door neighbor Winter Schnee, and due to an encounter last week me and the kids nicknamed her Snow Angel.”

Summer- “Aw that’s cute!”

Tai- “Hmm, you look kind of familiar....”

She pulled on Roman’s tie as his face only had his grin, “I said not to call me that!”, though Roman gestured her to lean to the side as he whispered so the others couldn’t hear them, “Clearly Summer and Tai are out of the question but there's Raven who’s a beautiful woman and theres Qrow who’s a handsome looking guy.”

Pointing her to the where the brother and sister were, the sister was looking off into the crowd while she caught Qrow’s attention as he winked at her. “I don’t need your help finding a partner!....Besides....they’re not my type...”

“Oh really...then why are you trying to sneak glances while we’re talking?”, her cheeks lit up a bit as he patted her shoulder, “I’m gonna make their drinks, have fun Angel.”

After some time passes, Summer and Tai had went to chat with Cinder and her friends while Roman was somehow able to push Winter with Qrow to one side of the bar where they could chat freely and seeing from a glance it looked like they hit it off since he saw her laughing.

Though it left him cleaning cups while with the silent Raven, and he didn’t know much about her. Except she was a woman, she was a detective, and he assumes she’s Yang’s real mother since they looked too similar to not be but Yang calls her Aunt Raven and calls Summer Mom. “Did you want anything else to drink Detective?”

“...I’m fine.”, she was playing with with the ice in her drink while stealing glances at where Tai was. “Why don’t you join them, you’d look better with a smile on your face then what you have now.”

She remained silent from that and he sighed, “Well since I don’t know you much Detective, how about we talk about something we somewhat know about.”

“Like what?”

“Like is there a reason why Yang doesn’t know you’re her mother?”

“Aren’t you being a bit too upfront with invading in my personal matters?”

“Just asking cause I’m interested in your reason, that’s what a bar is for. Exchange stories, memories, regrets and drink to silence..”, pouring a shot of vodka and passing it to her.

Raven stared at the shot-glass filled with vodka for a few seconds contemplating it before she took it and down it in a second, “I don’t think I’m fit to be her mother.”

“Did you even try?”, and he took her silence as a yes.

“How can you know you’re not fit to be one if you never even gave yourself a shot? One day she’s gonna find out that Summer isn’t her mom and there's two ways it’ll go from there. She’ll look for her real mother who doesn’t want to face her, or she’ll think she was abandoned by her.”

Glancing up from her drink, “Sounds like you’ve got experience....”

He chuckled, “Would you believe me if I told you I was an orphan the day after I was born and I still don’t know who my birth parents are when I’m turning thirty?”

She shied away thinking she stepped on a landmine but he gestured her it was fine, “Did you try looking for your birth parents?”

“I thought about it, but I figured what was the point? Some people wish they could turn back time and find out, me? I honestly couldn’t care less, they left me for whatever reason and I’ll never know. I don’t hate them for leaving me, but I also don’t miss them....if anything I hope I never meet them because I know it’ll only end badly.”

He paused letting his words sink into her thoughts a bit, “Yang may not be like me, but do you really want your relationship to be like that? Cause we’re both old enough to know that lies never last, and she will find out.”

“....How do I start?"

“Well for starters, why don’t you spend more time with her? She’s mentioned you’ve been busy for awhile.”, she looked at him with a questioning look as he shrugged, “What can I say? She comes over to play with the kids a lot and talks about her family.”

“Can I ask you for help and advice from time to time? I don’t think I could face Summer asking her for this kind of thing....it’d be a bit too embarrassing for my taste.”

“Oh? Does that mean you think too little of me to get embarrassed asking for help?”

“I-I didn’t-”

“I’m joking Detective, feel free to ask anytime. Though I don’t think I can help with girl talk or if she’s wondering about boys.”, and he was surprised to see her laugh even if for a few seconds from that.

“Well, I guess I should properly introduce myself this time huh? My name’s Raven Branwen, it’s good to meet you.”, seeing a smile with a better expression that reminded him of Yang as she extended her hand.

“Now theres the smile that fits a pretty woman,” taking her hand to shake on it, “Roman Torchwick, glad to meet you.”

“Raven!”, hearing Summer’s voice she turned to see her waving towards her, “Come dance with us!”

Looking back to Roman who gestured her to go, “Have a good one Detective.”, she nodded and left to go to the dance floor while Roman went back to making drinks as people were coming to get more drinks and a few of the club staff had come to chat with him.

Though he felt a tap on his back and turned to find Coco with a smile and a wave, “Hey Boss.”, though he was glad she wasn’t wearing what she wore at Junior’s bar and wore a baggy t-shirt that had one side lower to show her shoulder and blue jeans.

“Coco? What are you doing here?”

“Junior said you’d might be tired so he told me to come and help.”, and she quickly started to tend to the people ordering like it was natural.

“Thanks Coco, by the way I gotta thank you again for helping get a babysitter on short notice.”

“Oh yeah, do you know how Velvet is doing?”

“Well she hasn’t called or left a text message so at least I know they haven’t burnt the house down but....how are they doing anyway?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The grown ups are out drinking and partying but the kids are....


	10. Bunnysitter

Back at the house....

“Neo....”, turning around the corner to find Mercury and Emerald still in the living room as they were playing a basketball game though Neo was still gone. Looking under the dinner table and looking at dark corners.

“I’d give up Vel, Neo’s too good and only Uncle ever finds her when she wants to play hide and seek.”, hearing Mercury while she was looking through the bottom cabinets that she figured Neo was small enough to fit in.

“But I agreed to play...”, she whimpered and both Mercury and Emerald wondered if they should help at this point. “Neo, if you come out I’ll give you my last ice cream sandwich”, he shouted inside the house before Velvet perked up as she heard tiny footsteps coming in from the kitchen to see Neo wave with a rather happy smile at her.

She sighed as she picked up the small Neo, “You’re really good at that game aren’t you?”, and she nodded in response which Velvet couldn’t help but find was cute. Carrying her along to sit and watch as Mercury and Emerald were halfway done with their game.

“Hey Velvet, does school get any less boring?”, hearing her question Velvet thought to herself while Emerald managed to score two shots before she had an answer.

“I guess it depends...Do you two play with your friends a lot at school? That always makes it more fun.”

“We get to play only during the breaks since we have different teachers.”

“Have you thought about a hobby or a sport you like? I know my friend liked track and field before she started working.”

In the end Emerald won and Mercury turned the console off before switching the channel to cable and it showed a movie, “That friend the same one that works for Uncle?”

“Ah yes that’s Coco, by the way how come you call your parents differently?”

Mercury- “We’re adopted so...I just feel more comfortable calling them Uncle and Auntie.”

Emerald- “They said it was fine if we even just called them by their first names but I like calling them Mom and Dad more.”

Feeling someone tapping her arm to notice Neo getting her attention as she held up a picture frame which showed a young man holding a small girl as they were smiling together in front of an old building. “Oh, is this you and your Dad Neo?”

She nodded while smiling brightly.

Velvet- “That building looks familiar...where is this?”

Emerald- “It’s the old orphanage Dad said he grew up in and where he first met Neo as a baby. That’s why Neo calls him Daddy and she shares his last name.”

Mercury left to go to the fridge and like he said he came back to give Neo his ice cream sandwich which made her happy while he was looking for something to make. Which left Velvet to talk with Emerald while she was sneaking glances towards the other two to make sure they were safe.

“So your Dad was in an orphanage before he was taken by a family?”

Shaking her head, “Dad said he was raised there, and when he was the oldest he started working and helping the other children out before the owner passed away but passed the orphanage to him.”

“Really? That must have been hard for him if he was going to school too.”, Emerald nodded.

Velvet looked at the picture again and couldn’t get it out of her mind as to why the orphanage and even the young Roman looked familiar before she felt someone poking her leg to notice Neo waving a book in her hand. Though Emerald took it, “What’s that?”

Opening the book answered her question to show an array of photos which in the beginning had photos of Roman with the children from the orphanage or with Glynda while also showing Cinder with her family, her sister and her friends. “Looks like you’re parents had a lot of fun while they were in school.”

Mercury joined them and together they looked through the photo album to see the time gradually change as it clearly showed Roman and Cinder when they started dating before Neo entered the picture. Not long after it was photos of their weddings and they could see that Roman’s business and Cinder’s career was growing.

Though as they were looking towards the end Emerald and Mercury entered the family at the same time and Velvet could see the happy family all together before closing the book up, “You guys hungry?”

The three raised their hands but Velvet chuckled when she still saw some left over ice cream off Neo’s mouth and helped her cleaned it off while Emerald and Mercury pulled the menus off the fridge to lay them out on the table.

They looked over the menus for a bit before it was just Velvet and Neo simply watched and laugh as Mercury and Emerald seemed to butt heads about what to eat, “Hey guys, how about we choose this one?”

Velvet picked up a menu for a vietnamese place since she recognized the address which wasn’t that far and they eventually agreed. After picking what they wanted with a bit of discussion and Velvet crunching the numbers even though all together it was barely a third of the hundred Roman gave her.

So after making the call and knowing how long it’d take for them to come, they settled down for a different game. Jenga with team Neo and Mercury vs Emerald and Velvet.

Mercury- “Neo, go for that small one right there.”

Velvet- “What about that piece Emerald?”

Neo- Points to a bottom piece.

Emerald- “Velvet, that one is loose!”

Eventually it came down to Velvet’s turn and Emerald playing defense as Neo and Mercury were trying to get her to mess up as the wooden tower was very shaky with the little support at the bottom. Though in the end Neo snuck in a poke to Velvet’s side causing her to to make the tower fall before Neo and Mercury five high for their victory.

Though Velvet playfully tickled Neo for that when they heard a knock on the door for her to answer it, and took her a second to recognize them cause they immediately pulled their cap down as they handed the bag of food to her, “...Is that you Fox?”

Waving his hand shaking no but she leaned to the side along with Neo who she felt was against her leg to recognize his face, “It is you! How come you never told me you were working?”

He was shaking his head choosing not to answer, “Is this why you always come home late?”

She was trying to get an answer out of him but he was constantly shaking his head, “You know....you could at least say a word to me...”, until she felt Neo tug her pants to get her attention. Velvet paused as Neo waved for Fox’s attention.

_ Hi I’m Neo, are you like me? _ , Fox looked a bit surprised but quickly responded.

_ Hi I’m Fox, and yes I am. _

_ How come you won’t talk with Vel? _

_ Um....I’m not a big people person and I have trouble talking with girls when their cu- _ , realizing what he was about to say to her before he stopped but he could tell by the smile on Neo’s face that she already knew.

Neo pulled out her small notepad and began writing before showing it to Velvet before she turned back to Fox, “I-i’m sorry...I thought you just didn’t want to talk to me or Coco or Yasu, I didn’t know you were mute....”

Looking saddened but Fox panicked as he was gesturing it was okay and trying to cheer her up. After a few minutes of conversing through Neo did the mood lighten up and he gave her the change.

“Well since I’m babysitting late tonight, I’ll see you tomorrow Fox?”, she said with a smile which Fox nodded though Neo could see he looked pretty happy after seeing her.

The four ate their food peacefully though Neo was conversing with Emerald before gaining Velvet’s attention, “Hey Vel, are you and that Fox guy dating?”

“O-oh no, we’re just friends. Besides Fox is pretty handsome so I’m sure he could get someone better than me.”

“But you’re pretty and nice, right guys?”, Neo and Mercury nodded which made Velvet chuckle but...

“Sides, he already thinks you’re cute.”, and Emerald went on eating but stopped when Neo nudged her and pointed to Velvet as she was snickering before she saw with her own eyes.

A slightly red Velvet, “What?”, looking very confused which only made the children laugh at their rather cute babysitter.


	11. Night Trip

After some time the party died down as people began to head home. Raven and Qrow felt early when they got a call for work and said they’d take a cap but...

“Here, take the car and head home.”, placing the keys on the counter in front of Cinder.

“And what are you gonna do? I know you never take cabs but are you gonna walk home? If that’s the case I’ll just wait.”

“I’m staying till the end and cleaning up the place, just go home. I’ve walked home this late before you know?”

“You also know I never like it when you do...”, looking worried as she pushed the car keys back to him.

“Why don’t we give you a lift home then?”, gaining their attention as they looked to a red cheeked Summer and Tai.

“That alright with you Cin?”

“Yeah. Thanks guys, but be careful driving home okay?”

“I’m always careful aren’t I?”

“I’m serious, be careful.”, pulling him to kiss before walking out with Tai and Summer.

As time flew by and a slighlty drunk Melissa being the last one that said their thanks to Roman and leaving which allowed him, Coco and two of the club’s staff left to clean up. He checked his watch, “Coco, you sure you can stay? It’s almost one in the morning.”

“Don’t worry boss, we’re almost done anyway.”, eventually they finished off with the two staff members leaving first and Roman closing up the place before they walked together to his car.

“Alright I’ll see you later boss.”, she waved bye and headed off but Roman immediately noticed no other car parked or even a motorcycle. So he got in his car and eventually caught up, “Get in Coco.”

“It’s alright, I can walk by myself.”

“Yeah you probably can but it’s gonna leave a bad taste in my mouth if I let one of my employees walk home this late, especially when their legally still a kid. Now get in, I’ll drive you home.”, seeming adamant she listened and got in.

As they were driving, “But really, thanks for the help. Since I haven’t served in awhile it made things less stressful.”

“Anytime boss, it was actually nice not having to flirt with anyone or accidently show my chest.”

It took him a second to think how that would happened but remembered the first time he met her, “Yeah, I’m talking with Junior about that so no bandanas as a shirt.”

“It’s alright boss, I’m always wearing a bra anyway.”

Shaking his head as he remember more than he should have, “You weren’t wearing a bra when I first met you so I will contact Velvet to make sure you do before you go to work.”

“Well you’re awfully close to Velvet huh? Thought you weren’t interested in kids.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter, I was more or less surprised but I didn’t expect to ever see that kid again, much less see that she grew up to be a pretty cute girl.”

“Wait, you met Velvet before?”

“I lived at an orphanage but I remember during my senior year in high school that when I was walking home I found this kid crying and through her mumbling and tear filled words I put together that she lost her bunny when she took it outside.”

Coco herself was slowly remembering hearing this story and how Velvet talked about the one who helped her but she quietly listened, “So I agreed to help find her bunny, and somehow it ended up in someone’s backyard. Hopping over the fence was the easy part, the hard part was getting it out of the corner with a sleeping rottweiler. Damn dog nearly got my leg but I got the bunny so little Velvet and Snowball were reunited.”

Though he paused the story as they ran into construction on the road and thought about another way before turning around and going on a different street, “So, what happened next?”

“Well I walked her back home and figured that was the end of it. Next day she’s waiting in front of the school gates with Snowball in her hands, I say Hi and tell her to watch her bunny before I walk home but she followed me and eventually she became friends with the kids at the orphanage and came by to play regularly until she stopped coming around...the time I graduated. I figured she moved or something. Though it doesn’t seem like she remembers me so I can’t mess with her like I did back then, but it's good to see she's grown up well.”

He glanced to his side to Coco who had a rather devious smile, “Ooo...now I learned something interesting...oh! Boss turn that way, it’s a shortcut I know.”

“Alright. But seriously though, you’re still a high schooler so try to keep yourself decent. Bars are trouble as it is, teasing girls and drunk guys only make it worse.”, seeing the way was clear and the green light turning yellow so he sped up just a bit.

“Don’t worry boss I can handl-Look out!”, but he wasn’t able to react as a car smashed into his aisw which made his window crack but because of the collision he hit his head against the window to effectively break it to pieces.

“God damn...”, his ears ringing and feeling pain in the left side of his head as he looked up to see the car that crashed into him before seeing police officers coming out of their cars telling the other driver to get out of his vehicle. But he turned his attention to Coco, “Hey, hey you alright?”

She touched her head from the pain but looked over herself, “I-i think I’m okay boss.”

“Good...”, his glasses had already made his vision cracked but the world got blurry, “...You’re okay....”, before he collapsed and landed his head against the steering wheel which set off the horn. Panicked she put her hands on him trying to shake him awake. “Boss? Boss, wake up!”

“Someone help!”, yelling towards the cops as they were arresting the other driver. A woman who wore a long coat but Coco could see she had a dress under it. “Are you okay?”

“I-i’m okay but he’s unconscious.”, the woman carefully moved him to see who it was before she recognized him and called out to the other officer, “Qrow!”

They came running, “Everything oka-Oh shit is that Roman?”

“Call a bus!”

\-------

Slowly blinking his eyes open to find himself lying in a bed in a hospital room. He still felt a bit of pain in the left side of his head and tried to raised his arm before seeing that it was wrapped up in bandages and in a sling. “Boss!”, hearing her voice to turn to see Coco sitting in a chair next to the bed with a head bandage and a few wrappings on her shoulder to cover what he figure were cuts.

“W-wait here, I’ll go tell them you’re awake.”, watching her leave the room before he tried to at least sit up but it hurt to move the left side of his body but he figure that’d make sense since the car crashed into his side so he gave up and just layed back onto the bed.

He looked around before seeing the curtain to his left and saw the outline of another person but since it small they must have been a child but his attention turned to the stand next to his bed. His personal effects were there; his phone, his wallet, his cracked glasses, but more importantly his lighter and pack of cigarettes.

But before he could turn slightly to reach with his right arm he moved back as the door opened with Coco, coming in along with Raven and the doctor. “It’s good to see you’re awake Mr. Torchwick, and fortunately you were lucky since your injuries were not that severe considering what happened.”

“That mean I can be discharged tomorrow?”

“Ah, you still hit your head against a car window so I’d think it be best if you rest here for a few days. Just to make sure you’re really okay, also we’ve already informed your family so I’m certain they’re on their way.”, and as the doctor left Roman sighed as he covered his eyes.

“Just great....”

“You don’t seem too happy about your family coming do you?”, peeking from his fingers to see Raven sitting in the chair next to him while Coco looked like they were on the phone talking to someone.

“Heh, kept telling Cinder I’d be careful coming home and this happens? Never gonna hear the end of it.”

Hearing her laugh was a surprise but it was better than nothing, “You were the victim of a car crash and even though you’re in okay shape your car is pretty bent but you're more annoyed that your wife can nag you on something like being careful?”

“When you’re with someone for more than a couple of years, couple of months really, you’ll realise you don’t want to give them more ammo.”, and that little bit made them laugh which lightened the mood.

“So what happened when I was knocked out? Last thing I heard was some sirens.”

“The driver that crashed into you was a suspect that ran when we caught him in the act, luckily for us but bad for you that he hit your car. Still you did help catch a criminal.”

“Hah I guess so, but can you promise that I won’t be in the hospital next time I help the police?”

“I can’t promise that, this kind of job gets pretty dangerous you know?”, and the conversation set a better mood which helped Roman since he was still feeling a bit of a headache but noticed Coco finishing her call.

“Hey Coco, you okay?”

“Except a few bandages I’m okay, how about you? You still hurting boss?”

“Well I still got a bit of a headache, and I can’t feel my left arm much but I other than that I’ve felt worse. Can you pass me my phone Coco? I’ll call Junior to get his butt here so he can take you home.”

“Oh don’t worry, I was able to call one of my roommates to pick me up.”, reassuring him though Raven glanced towards Coco and back to Roman with a rather questioning look, “So...can I ask why you had a high schooler in your car?”

“Uh.....can we talk about it later?”

“I’ll be waiting for your call then.”, and he saw her with a smile that reminded him of Cinder when she interrogated him when he used to dodge questions when they first started dating.

Hearing a bit of a ruckus outside the three looked to the door for it to swing open with a panting Cinder and the kids running in. “Hey Cinds...”

Walking past Coco to stand next to Raven, “Don’t you Cinds me! I told you to be careful!”, as she pointed a finger at him.

“Come on, when we were in school I crashed my motorcycle a few times didn’t I?”

“Did you see your car?!”, and seeing the look on his face to understand that he hasn’t so she took out her phone and after a few seconds showed him. It was already up on the news and he could see that the other car had basically rip through the front of his car so now he understood why the doctor add that ‘considering what happened’ bit.

“Well...I’m fine see? I lucked out didn’t I?”, though he was surprised by the sudden, slightly painful tight hug as he heard her quietly, “...Idiot...” Returning the hug as in the end he knew she was just worried, “Sorry hun...”

Eventually she let go as she wiped a few tears from her eyes before; “You okay Dad?”, “You alright Uncle?”; turning his head to see Emerald and Mercury standing on the other side of the bed while Neo climbed up onto the bed as he lifted his slinged arm so she could crawl under and lay next to him.

“Hey kids, and yes I’m fine. Banged up a bit but I’m fine.”, petting Neo but she still had a worried look like everyone else. Neo got closer to hug him, “Come on, no need to worry. I’ll be up on my feet in a few days anyway.”

Cinder couldn’t help but at least smile by how cute Neo was being while Mercury and Emerald still questioned him since they were concerned as she looked towards Raven. “Thank you for caring for Roman, Raven.”

“Don’t mention it, just glad to see he’s safe and better to see he’s happy with his kids. Though Qrow probably needs me back at the station, so I’ll see you later. Get better Roman.”, getting up and receiving a hug from Cinder for thanks before waving bye as she left.

Coco looked at her phone before gaining Roman’s attention, “Hey Boss, my ride is here but I’ll come visit with Velvet tomorrow to see how you’re doing so don’t go anywhere.”

“Alright, drive safely you hear?”

“Of course.”, bowing slightly before exiting and leaving the family.

Roman gestured Emerald for her to hand him his phone so he could check the time, “It’s still early so you guys should head home and go back to sleep.”

“Are you sure you don’t want us to stay?”

“Doc already said they want me here for a few days so no point, I’ll miss your cute faces but all of you should go back to bed. And don’t you have a long shoot in the afternoon Cinds?”

“I can cancel it so I can bring the kids to come visit.”

“Don’t, I’m not going anywhere anyway. Come on, I know it’s soft and I’m warm but off kiddo”, addressing Neo who eventually crawled under his arm and off the bed. Cinder gathered the kids, “Bye Dad, we’ll come to play later!”

“Get better Uncle.”

_Love you Daddy._

“Rest honey, we’ll come back later today.”, and the family left leaving him alone and letting him lay back into his pillow as he sighed. Using his phone he looked up the report and looked at his wrecked car again, “Great, need to buy another car or break out the old bikes...”

Hearing some sudden coughing on the other side of the curtain made him turn to sit up on the side of the bed to pull the curtain to reveal a young blond haired kid, “Sorry to wake you up kid.”

He coughed before he had a weak smile, “I-it’s okay, it’s nice to hear other people care for each other.”

Roman looked at the kid to see he had a few bandages wrapped around his head but the main part was the big cast on his right leg, “Skateboard accident?”, as he got up while picking up his lighter and pack of cigarettes.

Walking around his bed but the kid saw he was looking at his leg, “Trampoline, scary huh?”

Roman pushed opened the window to light a cigarette so he could smoke for it to go out the window instead of being in the room, “Tried to super jump or something?”

“Heh..well I didn’t plan to but when you’re jumping with two brothers and three sisters...things happen you know?”

“I hear you, what’s your name kid?”

“Jaune, Jaune Arc.”

“Names Roman Torchwick,” glancing back to see the wheelchair next to his bed. But as he smoked peacefully Jaune caught his attention.

“Can I ask you something Mr. Torchwick?”

“What’s up?”

“Can you tell me about girls?”, which made Roman nearly choke on his smoke. “Cough...what you asking me for?”

“It looked like there's a lot of women around you, and they like being around you.”, and hearing that made him think of his most recent friendships with Summer, Raven and even Coco.

“Well...I can tell you, or you can experience it. Why? You got a girl you like or something?”

“I tried talking to one girl but she ignored me...maybe I’m just not that good with girls?”, though Roman looked to the stand next to Jaune’s bed to see a piece of paper. “What’s that?”

Looking to where he was looking, “Oh, a new girl transfered into my class and the teacher told me to show her around so we talk every now and then. She sent that letter.”

Roman picked up the letter and glanced at it but it was almost blindly clear that the girl who wrote this had a big crush on Jaune and was really concerned with him before he looked at the bottom of it to say ‘Love Pyrrha Nikos.’

“You said you’re not good with girls Jaune?”

“I guess so.”, shruging as Roman simply chuckled as he put the paper back.

“Call the doctor Jaune.”, as he walked back to his bed.

“Huh? Why?”

“To get your eyes **and** your brain checked kid.”


	12. Visiting Hours

“Thanks for pushing my wheelchair Mr. Torchwick, but are you sure you can turn with one arm?”

“I’m not that useless without two hands kid, besides I figured we’d both need some fresh air since that old man threw up next to our door.”, pushing his wheelchair as they walked along the path of the hospital’s rather impressive courtyard.

From how they were walking about Roman recognized that Jaune is a well-known customer of the hospital with how everyone greets him, “You really know the people here don’t you?”

“A lot of the kids say I’m just unlucky while the doctors say I’m prone to accidents.”

“Well you did somehow cut your finger with a pair of scissors this morning, scissors that were so dull they couldn’t cut an apple I might add.”

Pushing the chair so it was next to the bench under a large tree before Roman sat himself a bit aways away on the bench. “Are you smoking again? It’s bad for you, you know?”

“I already know, but it helps me relax and I like the taste of a certain brand.”, pulling a pack out and as he brought one to his lips it was quickly snatched away. “No smoking!”

Sighing as he looked to his right to see a young girl dressed as a nurse with light green hair swept to the right, “Come on Reese, I even came outside.”

“Hi Reese.”, Jaune waved to the young girl who responded with a wave and a charming smile.

“Hey Jaune, and it’s bad for you so you can’t smoke here Mr. Torchwick.”

“Don’t you have a vomiting old man or a forgetful grandma to attend to?”, putting away his cigarette packs as he pulled out a pack of tic tacs.

“I’m on my break and I heard what happened so I figured I’d see how you guys are doing.”, walking past Roman to sit on the bench with him so she was between him and Jaune. “But I’m surprised Jaune, it’s only been a few hours since you’ve known each other and you’re already hanging out together?”

Her smile beaming towards Jaune and Roman saw how he seemed shy as he chuckled, “We really need to work on your confidence kid.”

“What was that?”

Waving her off, “Just saying that outfit doesn’t fit you.”

“What? Why not?”, tugging at her uniform as she was asking him and Jaune looked at it before he noticed Roman had his left arm behind the bench and he was holding his phone for him to see.

 _Say she looks cute in it,_ was the text he’d typed out for Jaune to read.

“Um Reese?”, catching her attention as she turned from Roman. “I-i think you look cute.”, and to Roman’s surprise he was able to get it out with no flubs or anything.

“Really? Thanks Jaune!” and seeing her smile helped him quite a bit. “At least someone here can see it.”

Roman raised his arms with a rather smug face, “Hey, not my type is all.”

“Yeah right...oh that reminds me I think I heard you got some visitors looking for you Mr. Torchwick.”

“Who?”

“Hey boss!”, getting his answer as a pair of hands wrapped around his neck and he felt a soft sensation touch his back. “Coco that’s dangerous!”

“Them,” Reese pointed as she was snickering with a devious grin.

Tapping Coco’s arms for her to finally let go and so he could breathe normally after the surprise attack, “Hah...what are you doing here?”

“We came to visit!”, she spoke before waving hi to a still snickering Reese and a somewhat shy Jaune since he didn’t know where to look at her as she was wearing low cut shorts and a rather thin blue v-neck shirt.

“Plus, a certain someone wanted to say sorry for not remembering someone when the other did,” with a devious smile on her face as she pointed him to Velvet who was looking more embarrassed due to her friend.

“Velvet?”, looking at her with a questionable expression.

“I...I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you Mr. Torchwick and thank you for taking care of me when I was young!”, saying it very quickly and bowing though Roman was quick to try to get her to stop.

“You don’t have to worry Velvet, you were pretty young so I didn’t expect you to remember me.”

“But...you remembered me and you even recognized me when we first met again even though I didn’t until Coco told me what you said...”

“It’s nothing to fret over, though it’s good to see you’ve grown up to be beautiful woman Velvet.”, seeming more embarrassed by the compliment and his smile that she seemed to recognize from her memories before she fumbled to bring out a small bag that appeared to have cookies. “I-i made this as thanks but I didn’t know what you liked....”

Taking it from her and he chuckled as this made him remember an old memory, “Even if you’ve grown up you still haven’t change that cute part of you have you?”

“Huh?”, looking surprised while Coco couldn’t help but listen intently.

“Whenever you thought you made me mad when it really didn’t matter to me, you always came back with lollipops or chocolates to make things up. Had to admit it was always adorable every time.”

“Really....sounds like something you’d do Vel.”, Coco poking fun at a blushing Velvet which made Roman and the others laugh at the good chemistry of the two friends.

But once Coco was done teasing her dear friend she turned to Roman who waved for her attention, “Well Velvet, how do you wanna do this? Want to go back like how we were, or would you rather stay as we are? Either way is fine with me but since you know now, basically which one is more comfortable with you?”

“Um....”, pressing her fingers together as she was thinking about it....“Would it bother you if we went back to how we were?”

“Course not, though I’d probably need to tell my wife about you so she’ll understand why I tease you. Oh hey is that Fox?”, looking off in the distance for her to immediately turn but Fox was nowhere in sight and she understood once she heard the laughter.

“T-thats not funny! How do you know about Fox?!”, and her outburst only fueled Roman’s laughter. Wiping a tear from his eyes, “Oh....I talked to the kids on the phone this morning and they told me they had fun when you babysat them, and they mentioned how conscious you were of a boy named Fox now. Oh how fast girls grow up these days.”

After a few more blushing moments did Roman and Velvet sit together on the bench while Coco was playing catch with Reese and Jaune. “Can you not tease me so much anymore?”

“I could but...I can’t give up seeing those adorable reactions when it's so fun.”

“...Meanie...” and he laughed as he looked up to the sky. “I’ve got a question Vel.”

“Hmm?”

“Before you got to know me and the kids at the orphanage you always seemed like a gloomy kid and around the time you left you became one again so I just want to ask this as your old friend who cared and still cares about you now. Are you happy now?”

“...My family had some struggles but we got through them together. They trust me to make my own decisions which is why they let me move back here so I could go to Beacon in the place I was born. And you already know Coco who; past all her usual quirks, I couldn’t ask for a better friend and....I’m meeting the person who was like a big brother to me when I was sad after so long...”

Looking towards at her as her smile showed everything, “I’m happy Roman.”

“Good.” pulling out his phone to check the time, “Well I think you’ve wasted enough time talking to this chump, don’t you got something better to do?”

“Well its nice talking to you again.”

“Hah always saying the sweetest things, though I know one really good thing came out of this Velvet.”

“What’s that?”

Suddenly feeling his hand on her head, “I can still call you shorty.”, immediately brushing his hand off as he was laughing from seeing her red cheeks. “Come on, I’ll see you out.”

Getting up from the bench and waving towards the others before they left the courtyard to go down the hall where they could see the entrance at the end.

They stopped once they were in front of the hospital before Coco and Velvet turned around, “You don’t mind babysitting next time I need a babysitter do yah?”

“I’d love too.”, and Coco noticed a smile on Velvet’s face that even she hasn’t seen before even though they’ve known each other for years.

Waving their byes as the two girls started walking away, “You know, I’ve never seen you have as much fun just being around someone as you were around him Velvet.”

“I’m always having fun with you aren’t I Coco?”

“No no no, for one; even though you were red as a tomato the entire time he was teasing you it looked like you were enjoying it. And...” stopping her as she got in front and pressed her fingers on the side of her lips to recreate the smile she saw earlier, “..it’s the first time I’ve seen this adorable childish smile that’s apparently only for Roman.”

Velvet pushed away Coco’s hands and covered her mouth as her grinning friend looked at her, “W-what are you thinking Coco?”

“Not much...just wondering what your relationship really was as a kid. Was he just the big brother to you or....did little Velvy have a little crush on her white knight?”

“Coco!”

“Oh no! If that’s true then I gotta tell Fox he’s got competition!”, seeing the look on her face as she ran chasing after her dear friend while from afar it looked like they were just messing around to Roman, Reese and Jaune.

“They’re funny.”

“They sure are,” lighting a smoke and suddenly Reese was on him trying to grab it from his mouth, “I said no smoking Mr. Torckwick!”

Pushing her back as he continued smoking, “I’m technically not in the hospital so I should be good!”

Jaune was smiling and could feel he was understanding why, not just women but anyone would gravitate towards Roman, “Hey Roman.”

The two paused their struggles to look at Jaune, “Thanks for making everything fun.”


	13. Sweet Tooth

“Heads up!”, yelling towards Sun and Sage before she threw the football high as they ran back together. Though with quick thinking Sun jumped on Sage’s shoulders as he kept walking backwards before Sun caught the ball, “Yeah!”

Looking triumphant after the nice catch but Sage was still stumbling backwards before they crashed into the ball cart which made the trio laugh at them. Though Neo felt something touch her leg before she noticed a soccer ball came rolling to her before she started kicking it around.

Emerald followed Neo’s lead as she played with the soccer ball with her while Mercury went to go check on the dizzy duo before he helped them up. “Hey guys!”

“Hey Yang, Ruby.”, after helping Sun and Sage up for them to check themselves Mercury responded to the sisters that came up to them. Though got pulled into Neo’s pace when the soccer ball rolled to her so Emerald let them play.

“We saw on the news what happened to your Dad, he okay?”

Emerald shrugged, “He’ll say he’s okay to us even if he wasn’t. But the doctor wanted him to stay a few days to make sure he’s okay.”

“Reminds me of a time our Dad had an accident and he kept saying he was okay even though his head was bleeding.”, Mercury and Emerald simply nodded as they remembered some other times when Roman got injured but constantly said he was okay.

“Maybe he’ll feel better faster if we give him cake!”, Ruby said as she jumped on Yang’s back which made her stumble but she kept her balance. “Woah, warn me next time you do that Rubes. But that sounds like a good idea, does your Dad like sweets?”

Neo raised her hand as she nodded vigorously though Emerald and Mercury saw through her that to her, this was a way to get some free chocolate. “That’s right, you guys own a bakery right? Will it still be open by the time school’s over?”

“Yeah! We’ll go together.”, and Mercury shied away from Yang’s beaming smile while Emerald simply sighed over his difference in personality around Yang Xiao Long. She turned around to get Sun and Sage’s attention who were earlier pulling out a red headed boy out of the strangely large and deep sand pit. “Hey! We’re going somewhere after school, you guys in?”

While they were helping dust off the kid as he was tapping one side of his head for sand to come out the other ear, Sun was the one to raise a thumbs up which they took as a yes.

“You’re buying sweets for Roman?”, hearing a voice they turned to see a slender silver haired man using a cane to walk.

Mercury- “Hey Uncle Oz, and yeah we’re-Ow!”, receiving a swift punch from Emerald. “We’re at school dummy, he’s the headmaster.”

“Haha, it’s quite alright Emerald. I’m certain many already know our relation, but if you’re going to see your father do you mind taking some books with you? He asked me for new things to read awhile ago and this seems the perfect time since he’s staying in one place.”

“Sure thing Headmaster.”, Emerald being the most polite while Ozpin smiled as Neo gave a thumbs up to him.

\---------

“This way guys.”, Yang leading the way for the group as they were cutting through an alleyway for them to see the bakery on the other side of the street. Looking left and right to see a few cars pass by before they crossed the street and entered, “Hey Mom!”

Waving to her mother behind the counter who turned and answered with a wave and a smile, “Hey you two. Hey guys, what brings you all here?”

Sun, Sage and their new buddy Scarlet were looking at the cupcakes to the side while Mercury was watching over Neo who was eagerly eying at some display cakes with Ruby. Leaving only Yang and Emerald with the focus to talk, “Um, can we buy something for my Dad? We figured something sweet will make him happy while he’s at the hospital.

“Oh, do you know what Roman likes?”

Thinking about it...”Well, he likes anything that's chocolate?”

Mercury chiming in, “He likes cupcakes.”

And Summer noticed as the small Neo raised her phone for her to read out her text,  _ Daddy likes fudge! _

“Hehe, you’re so adorable Neo. But I think I have something he’ll like.”

“How much is it gonna be?”

“Oh don’t worry, I do still owe him for helping out Ruby when she disappeared on us at the amusement park anyway.”

She turned away to look through a book with Ruby while Mercury turned to Sun and them, “Hey, you guys want anything? I still owe you two for losing that dodgeball game.”

Sage- “I’m good, my Grandma will nag me for it if I do.”

Sun- “Can I get this one? And get this one for Sage and Scarlet, I’ll pay you back for Scarlet’s tomorrow and she won’t find out if you just drink something after Sage.”

“Alright. The one Emerald is getting is for Dad so what do you want Neo?”, tapping her head to get her attention before she pulled him to look for a sweet she wanted.

“Did you want anything Emerald?”

“Oh no, I don’t like sweet things that much.”

\----------

“Excuse me.”, hearing a voice the young woman turned to see on the other side of the counter was a group of kids with the green haired one calling her. “Hello, can I help you?”

“We don’t remember where our Dad’s room is, can you tell us?”

“Sure, what’s your father’s name?”

“Roman Torchwick.”

Pausing for a second till it clicked, “Oh! You’re his kids, I’m his nurse Reese. I’ll show you guys, follow me.”

Grabbing her clipboard before she led the five to the second floor and through a series of hallways passing other hospital staff and its residents before she stopped at one door. Opening the door to immediately notice the bed was empty, “Huh..this is his room....”

“Hey Reese.”, their attention moved to the end of the room where the blond haired boy waved to them. “Hey Jaune, have you seen Mr. Torchwick?”

“Roman? He fell asleep under the tree in the courtyard,” pointing to the large windows next to him for them to walk over and look down to where they could see inside the hospital’s courtyard and there was a man indeed sleeping under the big tree in the middle with some straw hat covering his face but they recognized the sling he was wearing.

“Sigh...I told him not to move after he took his medicine.”, though she turned to face the children except they were already gone. “Huh?”

Reese looked over to Jaune who was chuckling, “Haha...They left once they saw him Reese.”

“Wait up Neo!”, Emerald and the others followed after the speeding Neo until they reached the opening to the courtyard but Neo continued on to where Roman was. Following her to see her plop on his stomach which shocked him at first but he removed the hat to meet with Neo’s playfully smiling face.

“Sheesh, scared me kiddo. I thought some old lady just died on me.”, and her big grin made it clear she was happy scaring him but he ruffled her hair before he sat up to see everyone else. “Hey munchkins, Yang, Ruby. What you guys here for?”

Emerald held out the nice bag filled with the sweets Summer chose for them to give, “We stopped by their bakery, hungry?”

Setting it down for him to peek inside, “Looks like a lot, kids got time to eat with me?”

With Neo in his lap who he was babying by feeding her some of the sweets they bought while he encouraged them to eat it instead of eating himself, “Where’d you get that hat Uncle?”

“This?”, taking off the wide straw hat to put it on Mercury’s head, “A fisherman I’ve been talking to just got discharged but told me he’d give up the game and gave it to me. Want it?”

“No way.”, taking it off to hand it back but Roman instead pushed his hand to make Mercury place the hat on Neo’s head which confused her as it was big enough to cover even her eyes. Panicking a bit as they laughed since they could see she was blindly looking around before Roman took off the hat to put it back on himself.

“Say thanks to Summer for me Yang, Ruby want this cookie?”, Yang nodded while Ruby was faster than normal as she swiped the cookie from his hand before she happily eating it.

“You really love cookies don’t you Red?”, offering another cookie to the adorable child which she ended up sharing with Neo.

“By the way Yang, how’s Raven?”

“Auntie?”, tapping her chin as she was thinking about it...“She’s working as usual, but she’s been hanging out with me and Ruby more when she's home and...oh! She even came to see my soccer game too.”

“Really, that's good. Guess she’s improving.”

“Hmm?”, wondering what that meant but Roman waved her off, “Nothing, if you don’t hurry Ruby’s gonna eat all the cookies.”, pointing out for Yang to see Ruby reaching for the cookies.

“Though, thanks for visiting kids.”


	14. Lost Kittens

While he was getting dressed his phone rang to see it was Junior before he accepted the call and put him on speaker, [Hey Roman, you get it?]

[You really couldn’t have Dave send anything other than a suit?], putting on his belt when he felt stares to glance over to Jaune and Reese who was staring at him but when he gestured to them why they simply looked away.

[It was the only thing in my office that you left that didn’t smell like beer. Besides you're the one that said we should always keep those kinda clothes when we needed to be professional so it's all just suits and blazers. But you sure you don’t need a ride? The streets ain’t that safe at night Roman.]

[I’ve lived in this place for nearly thirty years, I know the streets by now Junior.]

[You’ve also only got one good arm right now idiot, let me call Cutter or Alice or even Ozpin.]

[They’re busy working and Ozpin’s probably got more on his plate than all of us combined since he’s in charge of an academy. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow alright?]

[Tch, stay safe idiot.], hearing him hang up before Roman sighed as he was putting on the white button up shirt.

“Hey Roman, what’s the cards mean?”, turning to see Jaune pointing the right side of his chest and figured out they were staring at his tattoos as he finished buttoning up, “I’m a bit of a gambler with what I do. I told you I owned a few clubs right?”

“Yep.”

“Know how many clubs there are in this city? I poured what I had and if I didn’t make it I’d be in debt till the day I die. Fortunately I gambled big and won, get it now?”

Nodding to that, before Reese walked over to him to help him put on his jacket and the sling again, “Are you sure you want to go home now? Couldn’t you wait for tomorrow at least?”

Looking at the time again to see it was almost midnight, “Yeah, I’m sure I’ve got a lot of work piled up for me so going home now I can do it all and sleep till noon without worry.”

Once he was dressed in the nice suit that was dropped off for him he pulled out a business card to hold out to Reese, “By the way Reese, ever need another job or willing to temp give me a call, can always use someone cute to help out at one of my places. Or if you’re just looking for a free drink just tell the bartenders you helped out.”

She blushed a bit from the comment but took the card as he walked over to Jaune’s bed, “Thanks for making things here a bit interesting Jaune, and hope your leg gets better soon so you can run around like my kids.”

“Same, thanks for making this stay fun Roman.”

“Anytime, buttt...”, pulling out another business card to hand to him, “Ever need help again with that confidence of yours, give me a call alright?”, holding his good hand for them to shake on it.

“Definitely.”

“I’ll catch you guys later.”, waving his byes before he left the room and made his way down past the other wandering patients or staff before he stepped outside into the cold night. Pulling a smoke from his pack to light one up to get out one puff before he felt something wet drop on his head.

Looking up to see it was a light sprinkle but he could tell it was gonna get worst as the rain extinguished the flame from his cigarette, “Heh...great start.”

Walking through the rainy streets as others rushed  to get out of the rain and he always took a few steps to move away from the road whenever he heard a car coming close. It was rather quiet other than the rain until he heard sounds of a struggle when he was coming up on an alleyway, “Get away!”

Hearing a young girl’s voice before hearing the sound of an older man, he stopped and looked at his left arm which he could still barely move, “...Just walk away Torchwick it’s not your problem..”, talking to himself as he knew he couldn’t really fight anyone until he heard the same voice scream which made him run in.

“Hey!”, seeing a small figure on the ground while the taller figure noticed him as they turned, “Piss off!”, seeing what he could while the rain reduced his vision, he saw that the one who ran away was a homeless man judging by his torn clothes before they ran away as he ran up to them.

Checking to make sure they were actually gone before he knelt down, “Hey, you okay?”, but once the girl looked up to him she scurried into the cardboard box which had some cloth to serve as a door. “...I’m going to open it, just to see if you’re okay alright? I’m not trying to hurt you.”

Answering him with only silence and he took it as he slowly moved the cloth to see her holding her knees in the corner of the box before he noticed two sleeping kittens in the other corner, “Hey kiddo, did that guy hurt you at all?”

She was soaked from the rain and shivering but she managed to shake her head to reply to him, “O-okay, but what are you doing here? Where’s your parents?”

“I-i don’t know...”, saying her voice was weak was an understatement as he could barely hear her words over the rain. “Do you want to find your parents?”

She was cautious but nodded eventually, “Then do you want me to take you to the police station? I’m sure they can help you find your parents.”, slowly holding out his hand to her but stopped so as to not overreach her bubble of safety.

Looking weary before she pointed over to the sleeping kittens, “T-they can come right....”

“They’re family right? Of course”, looking a bit surprised at the word of family but she scooped the kittens in her arms before she came out of the box. Though the rain picked up and she tried to cover the kittens herself before she felt something dropped on her head. “Here, it ain’t much but it’ll keep you and those two a little bit drier.”

Realizing he took of his jacket to put over her head and it big enough to cover her and the kittens she was carrying when she saw his left arm in a sling, “...Are you hurt?”

“Don’t worry about this, but come on the station is that far from here.”, about to walk but stopped as she held out her hand for him to carefully take before they hurried through the rainy night until they finally reached the police station.

Hurrying inside for the man behind the glass to be surprised by how drenched they were as they walked up, “Excuse me, is Detective Branwen here?”

Eying him since his white shirt was now see-through to notice his tattoos before he looked towards the young girl with a jacket over her and carrying two small kittens in her arms, “...Which one?”

“Uh..either one, I know both of them.”

“...Well she stepped out but she should be back in a minute or two, head into the squadroom. Her desk is the one with the stack of paperwork on it....and I’ll remind her to get a towel for you two.”

“Thanks officer.”, pointing her where to go before they walked together through the doors and down the hallway when they stopped at the entrance to the squad room to see a few officers walking about when one of them notice the pair, “Can I help you?”

“Detective Branwen’s desk?”, and the officer pointed to a desk in the middle where there was indeed a large stack of papers so they headed there. There was only one chair so Roman gestured her to sit and keep the kittens with her since they were wiggling from her hug. Passing a few minutes standing in place since he didn’t want to get the floor any more wet than it already was before he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Turning to see Raven with a rather concerned look while holding a white towel, “Surprise.”, trying to sway her with a smile but she sighed as she pushed the towel to him, “What are you doing here Roman?”

Taking off his glasses to wipe them clean and his face before he plopped it on the girl’s head, “Dry yourself off and them with this.”

Little Girl-“...What about you?”

Roman-“Ladies first, besides we don’t want you getting a cold.”, and she eventually nodded before he turned back to Raven.

“Sorry about this, didn’t mean to trouble you while you’re working.”, shaking her head before she pulled him aways and whispered, “So who's the little girl?”

“I was on my way home when I heard her screaming and there was a homeless man who ran away. Guessing he was trying to get her cardboard box that she’s been living in.”

“She’s homeless?”

“I asked her where her parents were and she said she didn’t know. She only came with me cause I said the police could help find her parents.”

“Well do you know her name?”, and that made him realize he never asked. So he went back to her and saw she had some trouble so he helped wipe her face and the kittens who whined a bit before they dry. Once he was done he could see from the towel how dirty she was and made him guess how long she’d actually been living on the streets before he threw it in the trashcan next to Raven’s desk, “Hey sweetheart, I never caught your name. My name’s Roman Torchwick, how about you?”

“B-blake Belladonna...this one is Gambol and she’s Shroud”, addressing the kittens along with her introduction and Raven was already on her computer so Roman tried to keep her busy before a different officer came by to hand him a towel before they said bye to Raven and left.

After a few minutes Raven tapped Roman’s shoulder and gestured to move away a bit, “Hey Blake, I’m gonna talk with my friend about something so just stay here okay?”

Nodding, before he got up and stepped to the other side of the squad room so Blake wouldn’t hear. “I...got bad news.”

“Her parents died in a fire about a year ago right?”

Looking both confused and surprised, “How...?”

“The apartment they died in, their next door neighbor is a business partner of mine, Alice Yung. Only remember their last name because she vividly spoke about how much yelling she heard from their home.”

“Police have been to their place more than a few times because of screaming and sounds of fighting. Looked like the father wasn’t afraid to beat his wife and that apparently because of that their daughter Blake was known to run away from home...but she disappeared a few days before her parents died.”

Leaning against the wall as he brought his hand to his face, “Great...she’s not only homeless but she’s an orphan too...maybe...”

“What are you thinking Roman?”

“There a problem here Branwen?”, hearing a deep voice made Roman turn and Raven look past him to be surprised by the older man. “N-nothing Captain.”

“Nothing huh?....Cept there's always something when it comes to you Torchwick.”

“Come on Memphis....I’ve become a good citizen haven’t I?”

“...You two know each other?”

“Oh I remember, back when you were the most annoying troublemaker I’ve dealt with....but we can talk about that over a drink. What are you doing here Roman?”, glancing behind Memphis for him to follow where his eyes was to see Blake making sure the kittens didn’t run away.

“What’s her story?”

“Long story short...shes homeless and she doesn’t have anyone she knows to go with.”

“....You can’t handle every street kid in a bad situation when you find them Roman. Your wife got lucky with those two you already have, but I guess it takes a reformed delinquent to change deviant street kids huh?”

“Hey if I-”

Memphis raised his hand to stop Roman, “If you still had the orphanage you wouldn’t have given it a second thought, I know. We can take it from here, she can sleep in one of the beds here and we’ll call in someone to help. Call up Junior and have him pick you up if not he’ll get someone to pick you up and take you home.”

After some time passes and cleaning up Roman stands next to the bed Blake was in with the two kittens already sleeping soundly with her, “Feel better Blake?”

Nod. “Good.......listen-”

“They’re gone aren’t they?”

“....Yeah, they’re gone kid. Want some advice? Whatever happens, just go with it...it’ll be less trouble for you.....I gotta go, maybe I’ll see you around kid.”, about to leave before a small hand grabbed his.

“Can you stay...at least until I fall asleep?”, seeing her face made him remember a few things from when he had the orphanage before he sighed, “Sure, till you fall asleep.”

Letting go of his hand before he pulled a nearby chair to sit down next to the bed and gestured her to to go to sleep as the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was a comforting smile.

After awhile he could hear her snore lightly as he sunk into his chair when he heard footsteps, “Thought I told you to go home Roman.”, glancing behind him as he was playing with his lighter to see Memphis.

“She asked me to stay until she fell asleep, obviously I can’t leave till she does can I?”

“You could, and she’s already asleep so why are you still here?......You’re already taking care of three kids that aren’t your own Roman, I doubt you need to add another to that roster.”

“Heh...I’ve been taking care of kids that aren’t mine since I could read Memphis, if anything raising my current kids is literally child’s play compared to before. Maybe I want a challenge again?”

“Careful with your words, you’re gambling face is showing....I really want to know Roman, I can understand that little pink girl since she was brought to your orphanage but why did you even agree to raise the two kids your wife found?”

He stopped messing with his lighter before he looked at the sleeping Blake, “Because we had something in common, they were alone with no one else to be by their side. Reminded me that I made some bonds back then, but they usually disappeared once they got adopted...Besides I wouldn’t exactly feel good if I refused.”

“Can you really devote time to this girl with the others?”

“I’m basically a stay-at-home dad since my business partners have more active roles. I devote everything to my family...just like you Memphis, taking care of her wouldn’t change anything.”

Shaking his head as he put a hand to his head from a headache, “Sigh...you’re crazy you know that?”

“Just cause you keep saying it, doesn’t mean I’m actually crazy you know?”

“Sounds like something a crazy person would say....I’ll pull some strings and talk to someone I know who can get everything sorted out before noon. You staying here for the night with her?”

“You don’t mind?”

Waving him off, “I couldn’t care less, just don’t bother my officers. I’ll see you in the morning Roman.”

“Night Captain”, putting his hat and coat on before Memphis left the room leaving only Roman to quietly get into a different bed to relax as he looked up at the ceiling. “Heh...hopefully Cinder won’t be too mad.”


	15. Guardian

“Huh?”

“It’s pretty sudden, but if you’re fine with it you can stay with me and my family. What do you say Blake?”, looking a bit surprised though she giggled as the kitten Gambol who climbed to get on top of Roman’s head immediately fell off to land in his lap with Shroud.

Since Roman was sat close enough she reached her hand out to pet the kittens while she was still in the bed, “...Is it okay for me to be there?”

“If you’re worried about fitting in, don’t. You don’t know it but we share a lot in common so I’m sure you’ll connect pretty easily.”

“You’re...sure you’re okay with me living with you?”

With a heart-warming smile, “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t already okay with it.”

Hearing the door open to see Memphis, “How’d it go?”

“Everything’s already done so you can take her, just sign these and you’ll be her legal guardian.”, taking the clipboard from him as he looked through the papers.

“Don’t I need to go to court for this?”

“Despite being a troublemaker when you were younger you’ve contributed quite a bit to this city and your background is more or less better than others...and I’m sure Judge Walker will approve just like he did the first two so no point in wasting his time.”

Nodding to that, Roman took a few minutes to read over things and sign after Blake took the kittens away so they’d stop bothering him before he handed it back to him, “There, signed everything I needed too.”

“Then she’s all yours...and change into this. You’re about my son’s build so it should fit. Toss the suit, smells like crap even after all that rain.”, tossing him a black v-neck t-shirt, black slacks and grey sneakers.

Leaving the room to leave them alone, “Well, I’m gonna go find a place to change and we’ll go out for a bit.”

Tilting her head as she wondered, “Go where?”

\---------

Standing nervously in a store with vibrant colors before she looked to her side and up to look at Roman who was looking around while he had Gambol and Shroud laying on his arm that was in the sling. “W-why are we here?”

“For new clothes, you didn’t exactly bring anything else with you did you?”, stepping over to where some dresses were, “How bout this one?”, pulling out a flowery tropical dress with vibrant colors.

Shaking her head as she seemed to be envisioning herself in the dress, “I-i don’t like the colors.”

“Oh? Then how bout this one?”, pulling out a checkered short dress but she shook her head and he noticed as he looked down to see the kittens were shaking their head as well. “Hmm...well what do you like?”

She looked around for a few seconds before her expression gave her answer, and that was she didn’t know what she liked. “Oh? It is you Mr. Torchwick.”

Turning to recognize the woman who he’s always seen as calm even though he’s heard from Cinder and seen for himself how annoying some of the younger models are with her, “Didn’t expect to see you here Melissa. Business?”

Nodding with a smile, “Something like that, how is your arm doing?”, pointing to the slinged arm.

“Got a few more days with this thing before they say its okay to take off. Oh! This is an associate and one of my wife’s close friends Blake, Melissa.”, stepping to the side and pushing Blake forward since she hid behind him when Melissa started talking to him.

“H-hi...my name’s Blake.”, clearly showing her shyness with her weak wave and rather quiet introduction. Melissa smiled as she squatted down, “Hello there, I’m Melissa.”

Standing back up to face Roman, “Should I ask why you have a different child with you Mr. Torchwick?”

“Eh...long story short, she had nowhere to go so I’m looking out for her. I already worked things out with Memphis."

“I see....well you’ve taken care of more children than the years my youngest brother has been alive so I believe you. But I take it since you’re here you’re looking for clothes for the young miss?”

“That’s right...actually, are you free to help Melissa? She doesn’t really know what she’d like to wear and I’m certain a woman would be of better help here.”

“I can certainly help, is that alright with you Miss Blake?”, looking back towards her who was still shy but gradually nodded before she went with Melissa to look through some clothing. Roman found a chair and sat while the kittens came out of the sling and rested on his lap.

After some time...“Zzzzzz.....”, having fallen asleep waiting he gained some attention for it but he didn’t awaken till he heard a thud to open his eyes to darkness. “Huh? Who turned out the lights?”

Though he felt something fuzzy on his face before he reached with his hand to touch something soft and furry that wasn’t his face. Grabbing it and holding it up to see it was Shroud since she was more grey than Gambol, “I know my face is comfortable but try not to sleep on it too much kitty.”

She meowed at him before licking his nose which made him chuckle before setting her down on his lap when he turned to where he heard the thud to see Gambol who had rolled off his leg to hit the ground but they were still sound asleep. “Sheesh, you sleep like a rock don’t cha little buddy?”, poking Gambol’s head for them to raise his paw and push his finger away.

“Umm...”

“Well Mr. Torchwick, what do you think?”, hearing their voices made him look up from Gambol to see a confident Melissa with a still shy looking Blake.

Though she was now wearing a black summer dress embroidered with white lilies that stemmed from the bottom of the dress, along with a black bow atop her head and a silver metal chain bracelet on her left wrist.

Looking surprised since just the clothes itself made her look completely different as he let Shroud while he got up to kneel in front of her, “Well don’t you look beautiful. You like it?”

Seeing her cheeks light up a bit before he saw her smile, “..Yeah, I like this.”

“Then I’ll go pay for it and...we’ll go get some snacks. Thanks again for your help Melissa.”

Shaking her head, “No, I must get back. Should I tell Ms. Fall about your new companion?”

“Nah, been awhile since I’ve surprised her.”

\-----------

“See anything you want?”, walking down an aisle of a store they came across while they looked at the snacks. She looked around while Roman picked a few things for the others and carefully tossed them in the basket since he had to put it down while the kittens were riding in it.

“Can I have this?”, holding out a candy bar. “Sure, just put it in the basket.”

Though as he was addressing her he heard a familiar voice, “No, you can’t have that. You know its bad for you Weiss.”, peeking the corner into a different aisle with Blake copying him to see Winter and Weiss who looked like she was a bit under the weather were shopping. He scooped up Gambol from the basket before gesturing Blake to grab it since Shroud was still in it. “Hey little buddy, I’m gonna hold you up next to her so do something to surprise her.”

And he seemed to nod as if he understood so he carefully walked without making too much noise over to the sisters. Though while Winter was lecturing her Weiss, noticed Roman first and he gestured to be quiet while showing what he was gonna do so she smiled for a second before assuming her earlier expression. “Are you listening Weiss? Come on-”

Roman had got closed enough before he held Gambol almost next to her head when he nibbled her  right ear which caused her to panic and stumble forward before turning around to see Roman was laughing and her dear sister was giggling as well was a young girl in black she’d never seen. “T-that’s not funny Roman!”

Trying to catch his breath after he put down Gambol who hopped back into the basket to rejoin his sister, “Wow...I did not expect that sort of reaction, but man was it adorable. Don’t you think your big sis is adorable when she's like that Weiss?”

Her bright smile along her nod in agreement only fueled Winter’s embarrassment while Roman was wiping a tear from his eye, “What are you doing here Roman?”

Gesturing Blake to stand by his side, “Wanted some snacks so we stumbled our way here, but actually I’m more interested in what you accomplished Winter.”

“What I accomplished?”

Gesturing her to one side of the aisle while Blake and Weiss were on the other and they nervously waved at each other, “How’d things go Qrow? You get his number?”

Covering his mouth as she smiled towards Weiss who was looking confused, “D-don’t mention that in front of Weiss....and yes I did.”

Pulling her hands off his mouth, “See how easy it is if you just engage?”

“I wouldn’t call you pushing me as engaging...”

“Details, details....by the way, shouldn’t Weiss be in school?”

“She’s a little sick, but it was really warm and it made the house stuffy so I figured she wanted some air so I thought we might as well do a bit of shopping....By the way, who’s the dark haired girl?”

“She’s Blake, someone I said I’d take care of. But you almost done shopping?”, his voice being louder which signaled the young girls that the secret talk was over. Winter going over to where she dropped a few things to pick up, “We still need a few things why you ask?”

“Why don’t we walk home together then since we’re neighbors?”

\------------

Opening the door before picking back up the bag of snacks, “Make yourself at home, and mind closing the door for me?” addressing Blake as she was holding Gambol and Shroud while he went to go put the bag on the dining table where the kitchen was.

Listening to him for her to close the door once she entered and let down the kittens for them to roam for a few seconds before they started following Roman again as he went from the kitchen to relaxing on the couch. She came around to the front of the couch while he was laying down, “Oh that’s right, want me to show you around?”

Shaking her head, “You’re tired aren’t you?”

“Well...we have been walking around for awhile so...yeah I guess I’m a bit tired.”

As he said that Shroud jumped onto the couch to curl up into a ball next to Roman while Gambol did the same except he had jumped onto the table in front of the TV, “Hehe, looks like they’re tired too.”

“Well then I’ll take a cat nap too. Feel free to take a look around yourself Blake, you live here anyway.”, reassuring her with confident words before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep while Blake thought to look around but instead she joined them by curling up on the big chair closest to the couch.

After some time....[Yes Melissa I know...I’ll be sure to tell Winter the good news too...Okay I’ll see you tomorrow.], finishing up her call before opening the door to hear three sounds.

Snoring from her husband, snoring from cats and the sound of light breathing of another person before she entered her living room to see it. A kitten sleeping on the table, another kitten sleeping on the couch with Roman who was sound asleep...and a young dark haired girl wearing a beautiful dress asleep on the chair.

Obviously she was confused as to why there were now feline creatures and an unknown girl in her home yet the second she got a closer look of the girl made those thoughts disappear almost instantously. Seeing old bruises and healed wounds made her imagine the troubled girl’s past as she lightly touched her cheek, “You’ve been through a lot haven’t you?”

Surprised for her to grab and clutch her hand as she noticed she was crying when she heard her soft voice say, “..Mom...”, she opened her teary eyes to see Cinder who wore a soft smile, “Go back to sleep dear, we’ll talk when you wake up.”

She understood as her eyes slowly closed again still holding on to Cinder’s hand until Cinder could tell that she had fallen asleep before she gently slipped her hand from her grip and walking away to come back with a blanket to cover her.

“Mad at me for deciding without you?”, turning to see Roman was awake before he sat up and was gently petting the kitten that was yawning next to him. Walking over to sit down before making sure she didn’t hit his slinged arm, “If I got a dollar for every time I was mad at you for making decisions without me...”

With a surprised kiss to his cheek before seeing her expression, “I’d be broke. I trust your judgement Roman, and I’m always by you. Though you could at least mention that we’d need to buy cat food you know.”

“Yeah...but hey, Neo and Emerald likes cats so they’ll be happy.”

“I suppose so, what’s her name anyway?”

“Blake Belladonna, I’ll tell you her story once everyone is in bed.”

“Belladonna? That’s a pretty name.”

Hearing the sounds of chatter made them look out their front window to see the kids coming, “Looks like the kids are here, are you gonna tell them or me?”

Roman looked at the sleeping Blake then back to the kids before he shrugged, “Let’s just see how Neo reacts first then tell’em.”


	16. One Book at a Time

Hearing the sounds of voices awakens her as she slowly opens her eyes to at first see past the side of the armchair was Roman with that woman she saw earlier and two others but as she moved her attention she jumped back at the sight of pink and brown eyes with bright pink hair peeking over the armrest to look at her.

Though the sudden fear was dispelled when the pink haired girl raised her right hand to do a cute wave towards her. “Um..hello?”, the pink haired girl suddenly ducked down out of Blake’s sight and she was about to look over when she popped up again except with Gambol on her head and mimicking the tiny girl’s stare.

It made her giggle this time as the pink girl leaned her head forward which Blake took to petting Gambol who meowed and gave the girl a happy smile on her face. “What’s your name?”, she picked up the small kitten off her head to place him on the armrest before ducking down out of Blake’s sight once again.

After a few seconds did she pop back up to raise a notepad in her right hand with the name Neo written out while using her left hand to point to herself. “Your name is Neo? My name’s Blake.”

Finally introducing herself but Neo immediately ducked down once more as Blake could hear the sound of a pencil before Neo came back up with the notepad on top of her head this time, “Is Blake a kitty too?”

“Do you like kitties Neo?”

Nodding with a cheerful expression seemed to make Blake happy, “Hehe...then I am a kitty.”, using her hands to pull up the bow a bit in a way that it mimicked cat ears. Even though she made no sound Blake could tell that Neo was giggling before she finally got off the chair when Neo beckoned her to follow.

Neo creeped up to the wall where on the left was the stairs to the second floor and to the right was the way into the kitchen and dining table where the others were. Neo gestured by putting a finger to her lips to signal Blake to be quiet to which she did the same to let Neo know she understood. Together they peeked inside, “So...is she like us?”

Roman- “Kinda, she’s a street kid too but unlike you guys her scars are more....visible. You get what I mean?”

Emerald- “Mom?”

Cinder- “When I found you two, you weren’t physically in bad shape, But you both had emotional scars that came from your previous family and living alone.”

Roman- “But Blake she suffered physical abuse and likely traumatized from her father. Everything I know is just second hand information since it was one of my business partners that knew her family and not me personally but..seeing the bruises and scars myself leads me to believe it's true.”

Emerald- “So...is she sleeping in our room too?”

Roman- “She’ll sleep in the guest room for the time being. When I found her I had to scare off a homeless man away from her so she may be frightened by other people. But I want you guys to try not to push her to talk, we don’t want to cause more harm than good. She may be silent for a few weeks maybe months, but she’ll talk when she chooses to want to. Though if she stays perpetually silent we would have to try to get her to talk so she can make friends....”, and this caused him to sit back in his chair as he was thinking while the others seemed to think about it too.

Neo turned as she heard a noise to see Blake sat against the wall holding her knees, “He’s trying to be so careful. But...hes right...I’m still a little scared.”, telling her thoughts to which Neo took out her notepad and quickly wrote.

“Are you scared of me and Daddy?”

Shaking her head, “No, I think you’re cute....and I think he’s the first person that showed me care but I don’t think I should be here.”

“Do you want to be out again?”

Tightening her arms around her knees as Gambol and Shroud had come to nestle against her feet, “No I’m afraid to be out there but I had no home to go to....and you guys are already a family...”

Just saying the word family made her remember her mother’s face as she began to get teary-eyed when she suddenly felt warmth to notice that Neo was hugging her. “N-neo?”, filled with questioning thoughts but the warmth made them disappear as she wiped the tears off her face.

“Thank you...”, Neo held on until Blake herself looked like she was okay to her and let go before she started writing again.

Holding up the notepad in front of her face to show to Blake, “Do you miss your mommy?”

“Yeah....I do.”

Though Neo’s next written words surprised, “I sometimes think about who my real mommy and daddy are too.”

“Huh? Isn’t he your Dad?”

Shaking her head before she crawled away for a few seconds to return with a binder and Neo flipped through the pages inside until showing Blake a photo of a younger Roman, baby Neo and other children in front of an orphanage. Handing it to Blake for her to look while she wrote in her notepad, “Daddy says he’s like me and was alone when he was born. But he made us his family and says we understand each other because we’re similar.”

Closing the binder for her to think about it, “Similar...are you okay with me being here Neo?”, and a bit shocked when Neo immediately held up her notepad that had the lone word written in large letters, “Yes!”

“Hehe...you’re really adorable Neo. But...how am I supposed to repay for everything?”, thinking about the food she ate, the clothes Roman bought and if she added to fact that’d she be living in their home...

Neo herself tilted her head looking at Blake when she got up on her feet to head to the dining table even though Blake was too deep in thought to notice.

“You don’t have to think too much about it B.”

“But I don’t want to be a burde-”, stopping mid-sentence after realizing the voice that talked to her wasn’t Neo so when she turned to see Roman leaning against the wall looking down at her with Neo next to him.

“You’re far from a burden Blake,” turning back to the dining table, “Hey Cin, can you cook dinner? I’m sure everyone’s hungry and don’t think I can do it.”

“Sure thing.”

“Hey munchkins, come and introduce yourselfs.”, addressing the other two to get out of their seats to come and stand with Neo for their introductions.

“My name’s Emerald, but you can call me Em.”, extending her hand for Blake to slowly take and shake before she looked towards the silver haired boy.

“Mercury, only Uncle calls me Merc though.”, and instead of a handshake he simply did a nod that she had to accept and returned.

“And you already met this little bubble Neo right?”, he patted Neo’s head and Blake could see happiness on her expression from that as she smiled with a nod.

“Even though I already told you I’ll say again, my name’s Roman Torchwick. My wife there is Cinder Fall, don’t worry she looks mean but she’s a big softy.”, suddenly feeling something hitting the back of his head, “Ouch...”, rubbing the back of his head but saw on the ground that his pack of cigarettes was thrown at him.

Looking back towards Cinder as she was humming a tune, “Not like it isn’t true.”, turning around for him to feel something else hit his head and looked to the ground to see she threw his pack of tic tacs he had from the hospital though the kids and Blake found it funny.

Still rubbing the back of his head since Cinder threw them quite hard, “Anyway; Merc calls me Uncle, Em calls me Dad and Neo calls me Daddy. Feel free to call me or Cinder whatever you feel comfortable with, if you prefer first names you can just call me Roman, but you get it right?”

“Yes.”, nodding with that.

“Good, with introductions out of the way. Let’s eat and then we’ll go to bed.”

After dinner Cinder saw the three to bed while Roman himself guided Blake to the guest room, “This’ll be your room. It ain’t much but either me or Cinder we’ll go shop with you so you can get things to decorate the room with, make it more homey.”

Gambol and Shroud walked past them to jump on the bed and promptly circled around a few seconds before laying down to sleep. “Looks like they’re out like a light. Do you need anything Blake?”

Shaking her head, “Alright then, goodnight.” turning off the main light to let only the light from the lamp on the desk illuminate the room before he closed the door behind him. She looked around to see it was relatively empty but the room was still clean.

She sat down on the edge of the bed before laying down to be next to the kittens. It was strange, being on something so soft when she remembered the alley....sleeping on the hard rocky ground or the stiff cardboard box, it was clear the ground was worse but she felt after sometime both felt exactly the same.....

“.....I can’t sleep.”, staring at the white ceiling for nearly an hour as she laid on the bed because she didn’t feel sleepy at all. She glanced over and just noticed that Shroud was gone while Gambol was still sleeping. Blake poked at the kitten, “Hey...where’d your sister go?”, but he just meowed as he pushed away her finger.

Looking up from Gambol to see that the door was ajar and assumed that Shroud stepped out so she got up from the bed to open the door to see a light coming from another cracked-open doors down the hallway. She tried to tiptoe to not make much noise as she passed the others’ doors until she made it to the door and peeked inside.

Seeing Roman’s back as he was working at his desk when she recognized Shroud who was walking on the paperwork, “Come on Kitty, I’ll pet you later but I gotta get through this.”, seeing him trying to push Shroud away even though it just made her keep moving around his desk.

She tried leaning a bit more while holding onto the door but instead pushed the door open which made him turn around, “Oh? Can’t sleep Blake?”, pulling herself up and dusting herself after seeming embarrassed before she nodded.

“Yeah I have trouble sleeping in places that aren’t my own bed too, but you get use to it after awhile. Take a seat.”, pointing her to the left side of the room where there was a futon and she listened. 

She took a look around and found it to be like an office, though her eyes moved to the large bookshelves on the other side of the room. “Do you read all those?”

Giving up on doing any paperwork with Shroud around lead him to just pet her as he glanced over to the bookshelf, “Most of them are from my friends but I’ve read them all at least once. Want to read one of them? Go ahead.”

Walking over she scanned the bookshelf and she saw some titles that were interesting but because they were too high she looked lower since she was too shy to ask for help. Eventually she pulled a book that had a black cover with bold white words, “Ninjas...of love?”

Hearing her say the title made him jump from his chair to take the book from her which shocked her for a second, “Woah there...this one might be a bit too much for you, maybe when you’re older.”, putting the book on the higher space of the bookshelf while he scanned for a few seconds to pull out a silver book.

“How bout this one? This is one of my close friend’s favorites and I personally think it’s pretty good.”, handing her the book for her to read the title.

“Hunters of Remnant?”

“Give it a shot, I’m sure you’ll like it.”, she went to sit on the futon while he went back to his desk. After an hour of paperwork and silence he glanced to his side to see she was still absorbed by the book. Though after taking a few glances between his work he noticed the changing expressions on her face that he thought was refreshing and completely different from when he first met, “So...books is the door huh?”


	17. Schoolmates

“Off you three go, gotta go see Oz about little miss here.”, seeing the three off once they entered the gate before Roman gestured Blake to follow him as they entered the admin building. Roman glanced behind to see Blake who still wore the same dress from last night and was holding Shroud in her arms since she said she was nervous about being without them. Though he was able to talk her out of bringing both of them and figured she could just let Shroud stick out of the spare backpack they gave her.

“Nervous?”

Looking around her as they were going down the hallway to nod before they came to a stop in front of a door on the right, “Once you get your flow, you’ll be fine. But feel free to talk to me or Cinder about anything after today alright?”

Opening the door to see a silver haired man reaching for a book on the top shelf of his bookcase with his back to them, “I told you to get a new bookcase, you’re leg is already bad as it is Oz.”

Turning to face him, “Ah Roman, it’s good to see you’re doing well. And this was from Glynda so I can’t just toss it away.” Shaking his head first before he pointed Blake to sit in the left seat as he walked over and tiptoed to grab the book so he could hand it to Ozpin.

“Thank you, how’s your arm?”

Stepping back to sit in the other seat that was open, “Can’t even feel it. But I didn’t come here to measure injuries; you got it done?”

“Yes, Ms. Belladonna is already in the system and since you mentioned her history to me before. I’ve taken the privilege to put her in the same class with Mr. Black and Ms. Sustrai so they’re under Glynda’s watch.”

“You know if she heard you say that, she’d think you’d be calling her a Warden or something. Also you can call them by their names with me you know? You and Junior are basically their uncles anyway.”

“I do enjoy their company but like you Roman I prefer to keep some level of professionalism. But I imagine you didn’t come here in person to just talk about this, right?”

“Yeah...I actually need to talk to you about some of your students in your high school division, along with some business that involves Cutter’s nephew and niece.”

“Right, why don’t I first take Ms. Belladonna to Glynda’s class? Wait here, I’ll even come back with some coffee from the lounge on the way.”

Standing up for Blake to see his cane, “If you would follow me Ms. Belladonna.”

“O-okay...”, putting Shroud in her backpack to zip it back up but left it open just enough for her to poke her head out before she started following Ozpin when she looked to Roman.

“Try and have fun kid.”, waving her off.

\---------

After leading her to the classroom she slipped in quietly enough for nobody to notice except for Glynda who saw her but she cotninued speaking without skipping a beat after she saw Ozpin waving at her from the crack in her door. “Psst. Hey.”

Hearing a voice made Blake look to her right to see a smiling Emerald waving at her since she was too focused trying not to be noticed to not see that she was sat next to her, when she wrote in her notebook before showing to her, [You meet Uncle Oz?]

Setting down her backpack to take the notebook and a pencil to write before showing to Emerald, [He was nice, and he seems close with Roman.]

As Emerald was writing her response Blake glanced to the front to see Glynda looking at them but she smiled before she asked one of the students in the front to answer her question, [Mom says Uncle Oz and Dad have been friends since middle school, though he doesn’t visit as much as Uncle Junior.]

She thought about Ozpin as the one feature stood out, [Is it because of his leg?]

Emerald nodded before they quit the messages to actually pay attention to the lesson when they were given a handout.

\---------

Once they heard the bell the students put away their things before heading out for recess and while Emerald was about to leave with Blake, “Emerald, mind if I talk with Blake for a minute?”

She nodded and left first while Blake sat back in her chair while Glynda sat in Blake to try and be a little more eye-level with her. “How are you doing?”

Blake rubbed her arm and couldn’t really look her in the eye, “I heard you’re going to live with Roman now, so you don’t need to worry about fitting in. Emerald and Mercury were afraid like you before but now they’ve made so many friends. I’m sure you will too Blake, and you don’t to worry too much about any of the work but if you have any troubles you can ask me.”, showing Blake a genuine smile that seemed to show off her beauty which somewhat mesmerized her as she couldn’t take her eyes off the beautiful teacher.

“You can go pl-”, stopping mid-sentence to hear a low meow coming from Blake’s backpack for her to reach while Blake hid her face in her hands and she listened to Glynda unzip her backpack before a small kitten popped its head out as it meowed loudly, “Why don’t I keep this one here while you go play Blake.”

She peeked through her fingers to see Shroud had come out of the backpack before they laid down on the table for Glynda to pet them, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they behave.”

“T-thank you.”, a rather weak voice but Glynda chalked it up to her being shy with new people when Blake headed for the door to exit the classroom and find Emerald waiting for her. “Aunt Glynda is always nice so don’t worry she’ll keep Shroud safe. Come on, let's go meet everyone.”

Emerald took her hand and led the way to playground to meet up with Mercury who was with Sage and Sun who was on shoulders as they were reaching for a Frisbee stuck in a tree. “Hey Mercury, you see Yang and them yet?”

“Not yet,” looking towards Blake before, “Hey Sun come say hi.” shouting towards the blonde child who looked his way and when he looked at Blake he was stunned by her appearance to the point that he didn’t see the soccer ball come flying before it hit him in the face causing him to fall off Sage’s shoulders.

Blake- “I-is he okay?”, seeing Sage trying to snap him out of his stunned status while Emerald and Mercury laughed because they knew the reason why. “He’ll be fine, hey Em think thats Yang.”

Pointing to his right for them to look and see Yang running in with Ruby along with the girl the two remembered as Weiss, their next door neighbor. “Hey guys!”

Emerald- “Hey Yang, Ruby. Hey Weiss.”

Ruby peeked behind Yang to notice Blake, “Who’s your friend Em?”

Emerald bringing Blake forward and pushing her to the sisters, “My name’s Yang.”, the blonde girl holding out her hand for Blake to carefully take and she was soothed by the warm touch. “My.....my name’s Blake.”


	18. Early Bird Joy

Blinking her eyes open to see the darkness for her to slowly get out of bed when she noticed the time on the clock on the wall, “Four AM again...” she looked down her bed to see the kitties were missing and once again her door was opened. Leaving her room to go down the hallway to see Em, Merc and Neo’s door was closed while Roman and Cinder’s was open.

Taking a peek to see that neither of them were inside nor did it look like one of them was in the bathroom before she continued to go down the hallway to reach the stairs then descended quietly to stop halfway. Looking through the bannister to see just the back of her head but recognized it was Cinder who was on the couch with the TV playing some kind of drama.

But she noticed the front door was open to see the back of Roman as he sat on the porch with Gambol sat on his right and Shroud appeared to be hanging off his left shoulder while she could see he was smoking. “Just woke up dear?”, hearing her voice she turned to Cinder who was looking at her with a gentle smile before she gestured her to come.

As she descended she took another look at Roman for them to glance before they waved as she went to the couch to sit with Cinder who was wrapped in black and red blanket. Which surprised Blake when Cinder suddenly grabbed and wrapped her in the blanket with her as she could feel the warmth of her embrace , “Warm?”

Nodding as Cinder hugged her for her to feel her soft bosom, “Roman’s been telling me you’ve been getting up around this time. Is it a normal habit for you?”

“How...”

“He’s been waking up early to do some of his work that’s piled up for the past couple of days so he’s heard you coming downstairs and waiting just before morning to go back into your room before the others get up. So, is it okay if I ask Blake?”

Thinking back to when she would wake up to the time as she rested her head against Cinder’s warm chest, “It....was usually the time I heard the cars go by. They would wake me up and when I heard sirens before the red and blue lights I thought I had to move because they kicked out others who slept in the alley.”

Stroking her hair gently, “You’ve had it rough, but you don’t have to worry about that here.”

Hearing footsteps along with a door closing made the two turn their attention to Roman who blew smoke to the other direction while he was holding both Gambol and Shroud with his right arm, “You’ll still hear cars pass by, but no ones kicking you out Blake.”

Sitting on the couch next to the pair to release the kittens who quickly cuddled next to Blake, “Would you feel better if Cinder is with you when you sleep? You look like you’re really safe in her arms.” seeing his smile as she looked to Cinder.

“...I don’t want to be a burden....”

Rubbing her head which clearly messed with her hair, “You ain’t a burden kiddo, just want you to break this bad habit so you won’t have to remember that stuff anymore. Even if it means me being lonely in bed for a while.”

“..You don’t mind?”

“Of course, and if it helps then it’s all the better isn’t it?”, she kissed Blake’s forehead to which she grabbed Shroud to hold up in front of her face so they couldn’t see her blush but the pair knew and simply chuckled when they could hear more footsteps. Roman looked over the couch first to see Neo on the steps rubbing her eyes as she was holding a black wolf plushie in her arms. “Sorry if we woke you cupcake.”

She slowly descended the steps while seeing Emerald who yawned following behind her along with Mercury, “Yawn...why’s everyone up so early?”

Neo got to the couch and climbed on to fall into Roman’s lap where she already looked like she was falling back to sleep as she held the wolf plushie tightly in her arms.

Roman- “Cause it’s never too early for some family time.”, as Emerald and Mercury got on the couch to sit next to Roman he wrapped his left arm around their shoulders to pull them while messing with their hair even though they were too out of it to fight back.

Blake giggled looking at the three as Emerald and Mercury worked together to grab Roman’s arm and shove him which brought him closer to her and Cinder even though he put a hand on Neo to keep her from falling off. “Hey no fair, you’re working together.”

Cinder- “Since when have you been fair honey?”

Roman- “You’re suppose to be on my side!”

“I’m always on your side dear,” leaning in to kiss his cheek, “But I’m always on the children’s side as well.” Distracting him long enough for Emerald to jump on his back which inevitably made him crash into Cinder and Blake reacted to hold onto Neo before she fell off the couch even though she was between the two adults.

Mercury grabbed the couch pillow to set it down on the floor next to the couch before he gestured Blake to let go so he could carefully lay Neo down with her head on the pillow. Gambol and Shroud jumped off to rest near Neo while Roman mumbled, “Traitor.”

“I don’t mind being one,” Cinder wrapped her arms around his neck, “If it brings you this close.” Giving a soft kiss to his lips to which Mercury looked away and Emerald giggled while Blake tried to be a rock, “Devious sweetie, but don’t think Blake likes being in a sandwich. So would you kindly Em?”

Listening to him Emerald got off his back so he could push himself off to let Blake out, “You okay kiddo?” Seeing her look up to Cinder then to Mercury and Neo then to Emerald who smiled before returning to Roman to show him a beautiful smile befitting a young girl. “Yeah....I’m more than okay now.”


	19. Homey Hospitality

“Hey Dad what’s that?”, looking through the rear view mirror to see Emerald pointing to follow as he was driving them home to notice ahead their neighbor’s home was being tented. “Huh, guess the sisters have a bug problem or something.”

Passing by to reach their home and park in the driveway when he noticed the silver haired pair sitting on his porch. Seeing Weiss carrying the white cat ,who he found out later was named Mia, in her arms and a backpack while Winter had a medium sized duffle bag next to her as she perked her head up. The kids got out first before Roman locked the car and couldn’t help but find the scene rather funny as he smiled, “I know the stork is suppose to bring me kids, but I’m pretty sure they don’t give amatuer models in college.”

Standing up to face him, “...I know this is last minute Roman but can-”

“Of course.”

“I figured you’d say- wait really?”, looking surprised when he patted her shoulder and turned her around to push her to the door when he picked up her duffle bag. “You hungry Weiss?”, looking at the quiet silver girl as he poked the cat for it to meow at him and she responded with a nod.

Opening the door to let the sisters and the kids in before he took Weiss’ backpack as well and left them on the big chair in the living room, “We’ll talk about where you should sleep one I talk with Cinder, but for now you guys mind take out?”

Weiss let the kitty go for it to wander about while she went to the couch where Blake and Neo were and Roman went with the others to the kitchen as he was dialing a number. “Thanks again Roman.”

“Don’t mention it, we’re friends right?”, turning away after seeing her nod to talk to the person on the phone when she turned to Emerald. 

“How’s school?”

“It’s okay, the usual stuff but...how are things with Mr. Branwen?”, with a curious smile which caught her by surprised and a little red in the cheeks.

“W-why do you know about him?”

Entering in the conversation as he popped open a can of soda, “Uncle tells us stuff from time to time and a story about you came up, so are you and the Detective dating?”

“Wait...Roman talks about me?”

Emerald- “We asked him why he likes to mess with people and he said it’s in good fun so then we asked who his favorite person to mess with was.”

Mercury- “And he said that was you because your reactions are cute and you turn into a tomato when it’s something a bit personal.....like right now.”

Her face seemed to warm up with the fact that her private life was so easily told as she turned away and slammed her fists on the table, “Roman!”, but as she screamed his name she was silenced as he put his finger to her lips which didn’t help the redness.

“Sorry bout that, but that’ll be it for my order....twenty minutes? See you then.”, hanging up and putting away his phone to look to Winter with his finger still silencing her lips. “Now before you say anything, I’ll admit I was a bit drunk when they asked me so it just sorta slipped out.”

“Though I have always found you cute.”, seeing her blush just made his grin wider as he pulled back his hand, “And that kids is how you make people follow your pace.”, addressing Emerald and Mercury for them to nod while Winter continued to flare up because of them.

Back at the couch where Neo was playing with the white cat with a cat toy while Blake and Weiss were watching a cartoon on the big screen, “You guys know how long it’ll take?”

“Winter said it’d take a few days but....won’t know more till they tell us.”, Weiss was caught off guard when Neo popped up in front of her with Mia on top of her head like a hat as she meowed. 

Making the pair laugh as Shroud and Gambol entered the fray to play with Mia once Neo decided to draw something, “By the way, hows school and everything?”

“It’s....nice not to have to be afraid of looking over my shoulder anymore. Yang and them are always so hyper so the fun never stops with them....and I really enjoy being neighbors with you Weiss.”, flashing a radiant smile that seemed to make Weiss’ heart skip a beat. “Are you okay? Your face is kinda red.”

“I-it’s nothing.” turning her face away from her while Blake seemed to think of it. Yet Weiss felt something touch her leg to notice Neo beckoning her to the left end of the couch. “What is it?”, with a questioning expression as Neo was writing in her notebook before she showed it with a heartwarming smile.

_ Blake is really pretty when she smiles, don’t you think? _ , though what took her attention was the rather very detailed drawing of a chibi Blake and Weiss with a boat between them along with a heart above it. With a panic Weiss covered Neo’s notebook with her hands as she spoke quietly, “Not...another word...”, even though Neo had a strangely satisfied look for successfully teasing Weiss.

“Don’t tease her too much kiddo.”, hearing Roman’s voice as he rubbed Neo’s head before he made his way over to sit in the big chair with Neo following him. Winter with Emerald and Mercury took to the couch.

Neo sat on Roman’s lap as she took to go back to her drawing pad when the white cat Mia jumped on the big chair to look over the two, “So I texted Cinder and she told me to figure out the sleeping situation myself. The munchkins will sleep in their room while the lovely silver sisters sleep in the guest bedroom. Blake, you’ll be with Cinder in our room.”

Winter- “Where will you sleep?”

Roman- “I got the couch here and there's a futon and my nice chair in my study so don’t worry about me. But is that setup fine for everyone?”

Winter- “Are you sure? It’s your home, wouldn’t it be better for me and Weiss to take the couch?”

Roman- “My home, I do what I want. Besides that couch is more comfortable than you think it is.”, hearing the doorbell ring, “That was quick.”

Poking Mia for her to jump off his chair as he picked up Neo to carry her under his right arm when he made his way to the door. Opening it for Neo to immediately recognize Fox even though he was wearing a different uniform and waved to which Roman noticed. “Hmm? This a friend of yours Neo?”

Fox tried to wave in a way Roman didn’t notice but he also couldn’t help but glance past his shoulder to see everyone inside.

Without her notepad she signed for him,  _ He’s Velvy’s friend and hes like me!...Also he thinks shes cute. _ He thought about it and figured this man was one of the roommates Velvet and Coco mentioned, but a seemingly devious smile crept on his face which kind of frightened Fox. “Thanks for getting here so fast, practically starving all day.”

Fox nodded and brought the bags in front of him, “Not much of a talker huh?”

Roman pointed for Neo to reach inside his pocket to take out and hand him his wallet as he took out the money to hand to Fox. “Keep the change.”, which shocked Fox as he did the math and the change was a little over a hundred dollars.

He panicked trying to break the money to hand back to Roman for him to wave and to his surprise,  _ Keep the money, and take that special girl out to dinner or a movie,  _ seeing Roman sign with only his left hand as he looked to Neo who was copying him but signing in full form with both hands to get the message.

Looking embarrassed as Fox finally pieced together who Roman was after seeing Neo and remembering Coco talking about him before. He attempted one last time to give the money back, but Roman waved his finger with a no, no, no gesture.  _ If you don’t give it your best shot, you’ll miss out on a really great girl buddy. _

Fox realised quickly he couldn’t refuse and gratefully nodded,  _ Thank you _ , before waving bye to Neo and them as he headed back to his car. Roman picked up the large bag and turned his body slightly for Neo to reach the smaller one for her to carry then kicked the door closed before heading into the kitchen with the sound of multiple footsteps following behind.

“Winter can you get the plates from that top shelf there?”, putting the large bag down before pointing it out to Winter for her to follow his direction. Then lifting up Neo to help her put the small bag on the table to then setting her down where she was greeted by Shroud.

Since there wasn’t enough chairs and he didn’t feel like eating Roman resigned to sitting outside his front door so he could smoke without bothering anyone except the kittens who joined  him by sleeping next to him or on his legs. After about ten minutes did he recognize Cinder’s sleek car as she pulled up to park on their side of the street for him to wave and surprisingly Gambol and Shroud mimicked him as they waved their paws.

Cinder couldn’t help but smile at the sight as she came stepping to the front, “You know the term is cat lady, not cat man honey.”

Licking his thumb and index finger to extinguish his cigarette, “What can I say? I’m comfortable to sleep with.”

Leaning down to touch his cheek before kissing him, “I already know that.”, peeking inside the house to peer to the right and catch a glimpse of all the children eating together with Winter supervising as best as she could.

Figuring they were having fun she set her purse down to the side and picked up the white cat Mia before sitting in his lap, “Not gonna say hi?”

“They look like they’re having fun without us.”

“Aw, is my dear darling hurt without their adorable attention?”, Cinder rested her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, “That’s what you’re for Roman.”

“You know you always have my undivided attention....long as you have clothes on or else it’ll be elsewhere.”, couldn’t help but smile as she playfully hit him when he felt something climb on his back for Cinder to see Neo’s adorable face on his right shoulder.  _ Hi Mommy! _

“Hey sweetie, how was your day?”, Neo responded by pressing her hands forward for Cinder to lock hands with her as Neo held the hands together to cover her face before moving them apart to reveal a goofy expression, “Hehe, guess that means you had a lot of fun.”

“Kids kick you out of the house Roman?”, hearing and recognizing a manly voice turned his attention ahead where he saw Qrow Branwen carrying a black rucksack over his right shoulder while holding onto his left hand was a waving Ruby Rose.

Cinder got up from Roman’s lap so he could get up, carefully since Neo was still clinging on his shoulder as he walked to meet them, “Kids, they always run you out of the house one day. But what brings you by?”

Qrow- “Just needed to get out of the house a little bit, needed some fresh air..”

Ruby- “Uncle Qrow had a fight with Aunt Raven.”, and Roman saw Qrow twitched at Ruby’s rather quick explanation of the situation and he could already piece together why he came.

Roman- “Guess I’m not the only who got kicked out today huh?”

Qrow- “It’s just....better to let my baby sis calm down before I try working things out. So I know it’s sudden but can I-”

Roman- “Stay for the night? You don’t mind the couch do you?”

Qrow- “That’s alright with me, I’ll leave my stuff here and take Rubes home.”

Ruby- “I wanna stay with you and hang out with everyone though.”

Qrow- “Come on, you know Summer will be worried.”

She took out her phone to show him and Roman a text message, “But Mom said to stay with you.” Summer’s text, [Your Uncle Qrow will probably go to Roman so stay with him and make sure he isn’t bothering him or his family.]

After letting Neo safely down she mimicked Roman’s actions as he had his hand to his mouth containing his laughter, “Hah...Wow, they really trust you don’t they?”

For once seeing a slightly vulnerable look on Qrow for barely a second before he resumed the cool guy look. “Just a little bad luck one time with a biker and they worry out about everything...”

“Haha, come on inside. Should be some food if they didn't eat it all.”, waving them in for Ruby to run to Neo for an overly epic air high five before they ran inside the house with Cinder following them along with Roman and Qrow right behind. Though Qrow’s attention was taken when he heard her voice, “Qrow?!”

He seemed genuinely surprised but Roman could see a crack of a smile on his face, “Ah, I forgot to mention you weren’t the only one who asked. Since Snow Angel and Snow Princess are with us tonight, try and be careful if you take a shower.”, tapping his shoulder as the kids looked to wave to Qrow and he responded with a wave as well.

“Pretty sure I don’t need to say it but just be good kids, and the ones who haven’t been with each other for several years....try and keep it family friendly yah?”, of the couple only Winter seemed to display a facial expression that reflected that she understood what Roman was saying while the children were a bit confused save for Emerald and Mercury who only snickered.

Cinder came from behind to punch Roman’s left side to get his attention, “Quit teasing our guests and let’s eat.”


	20. Hide and Ghost Seek Part 1

Hearing his ringtone made him open his eyes and rub tem before he got off his futon to first grab his glasses on the desk then to reach for his ringing phone. Seeing the time first to see that it was almost midnight before seeing it was Ozpin calling, [Ozzy you know what time it is?]

[It’s approximately 11:53pm, seven minutes before midnight.]

[You see the problem with calling me this late then?]

[I’m well aware it’s impolite of me to call at this time but its just....I require your assistance.]

Already looking through his drawers to pick up his keys, [Alright alright, you get lost at a social gathering or something?]

[Nothing like that....I’m in my office at Beacon.]

[Your office? You’re still working?]

[I was when I heard some rather strange noises.]

[Is this about ghosts again? I keep telling you theres no such things as ghosts, it was a prank back then. We even had Salem redo the ghost makeup in front of you to show it was all us.]

[I know it’s not ghosts Roman....but the janitor has mentioned to me several times that he’s heard similar strange noises himself. I thought little of it....until now.]

[Sigh, fine just keep the lights on in your office and I’ll be there in a bit.], hanging up to exit his study and head downstairs as quietly as possible. Seeing Ruby and Qrow asleep on the couch so he tiptoed over to the closet next to the front door to take out a light jacket as he went through his contacts to call Junior.

“Roman?”, hearing a rather lazy but soft voice to see Winter coming down the steps in similar sleep attire to that of Cinder, which consisted of a grey tank top and black panties that seemed to be more prominent with her light skin and silver hair. “Wow....just....wow...”, a bit stunned by the defenseless from the silver beauty.

She yawned before rubbing her eyes as he imagined he must have woken her up somehow, “It’s almost midnight, where you going?”

Snapping out of it as he caught himself ogling a bit too long, “Uh, something came up with a friend so I gotta go. Why don’t you get some more sleep Winter?”

“Kay.”, surprised by the amazingly casual response as she turned around to walk back upstairs and he honestly couldn’t help staring at her butt till she was out of view. “Note to self: Stay away from Sleeping Beauty when she wakes up.”, telling himself when hearing his phone to see Junior picked up.

[You called?]

Finally getting out of his house quietly before he headed to his car, [A problem with Ozzy, don’t ask just come to the school.]

[....Alright, I’ll put someone in charge and meet you there.]

\------------

Pulling up to the parking lot to see Junior’s car before parking next to him and they got out together, “I’m just gonna guess, is this a ghost thing?”

“No its about baking cookies in the dark, what else?”

“Maybe he’s right man, I mean we scared him pretty good but when he locked himself in that science lab he came out paler than when he went in. What if he actually saw something back then? It’d explain why the hell he’s so damn afraid of ghosts.”

Roman opened his trunk to rummage through his things, “Are you scared of ghosts now too Junior? They ain’t real, it’s just something for people to scare kids or make people think that their dead grandparents are actually watching over them.”

“Then why do you have a crowbar?”, pointing out to the rather dangerous object he pulled from his trunk before he took out a bat and tossed it over to Junior for him to catch. “Remember back in school some girls playing around after dark got attacked by a drugged up dude?”

“You seriously think that’ll happen?”

“I think some assholes making weird noises makes more sense than a ghost, now come on Ozpin is probably still waiting for us.”, taking out a flashlight to turn it on before closing the trunk and Junior followed behind him as he kept a tight grip around the bat which made him feel a bit safer.

With the rather eerie walk and strangely squeaky metal doors did they made their way through the administration building heading to Ozpin’s office when Junior just glanced over his shoulder to see for a split second what looked like a person standing behind them, “Roman!”

Nearly punching Roman’s shoulder for him to turn, “What the hell?”

“There was someone there just now!”, Roman looking stupefied at his partner when he shined the light down the dark hallway behind them to reveal there wasn’t a single thing he could see that would indicate a person was there. “I don’t see jack, come on get it together. His office is right there.”

Tapping Junior’s shoulder before he resumed walking ahead and Junior held the bat even tighter while also sticking a bit closer to Roman until they made it to the principal’s office. Roman gestured Junior to open the door so he could go first and when he was about to walk in he stopped as he felt he was being watched. He looked back down the hallway they came from and shined the light to scan for anything until the feeling eventually disappeared. Turning the flashlight off and entered just as he thought he heard heavy breathing.

Finding themselves in the room where his secretary’s desk was before they could hear typing in the next room for them to find Ozpin looking like he was trying to distract himself with work to the point that he didn’t react to them. Junior walked to sit in the left chair and Roman sat in the right chair that were in front of Ozpin’s desk yet still no reaction.

He reached his crowbar to tab the desk, “Oz?” Still nothing and they looked at each other before Junior pointed the bat for Roman to look at Ozpin’s coffee mug. Reaching with his crowbar to just barely touch the mug when Ozpin wrapped his hand around it and finally looked at them, “Oh, you guys came.”

Roman- “Took ya long enough, you gotta fix that habit Ozzy.”

Junior- “But he’s always been like that even before we hung out.”

Ozpin- “Working like this helps me calm my mind...but I’m very grateful that you two came.”

Roman- “Yeah we’re here, but I’m telling you Ozpin theres no such thing as ghosts. You sure it wasn’t just the janitor working late?”

Ozpin- “He went home already and I know because I saw him off at the gate but....I thought I heard a woman’s voice.”

Roman- “How much you wanna bet it's just some kids messing around here to make up scary stories, I mean you know a lot of middle and high school kids come for that courage test they make up here right?”

Ozpin- “I’m well aware that some of my students do partake and initiate that sort of event but this voice seemed different.”

Junior- “Hey Roman....maybe he’s talking about that thing in the hallway that I saw.”

Ozpin- “Hei you saw something?”

Roman- “He thought he saw something but I didn’t see anything.”

Ozpin- “And you didn’t hear any voices Roman?”, and Roman was about to quickly dismiss but he couldn’t when he thought that before he entered the office he heard heavy breathing that didn’t seem normal in the slightest. This hesitation was both seen by Junior and Ozpin, “Forget it, lets just go home.”

Suddenly the lights shorted out as the door flew open and the office was filled with darkness but Roman instinctively turned on the flashlight as he got out of the chair along with Junior to readied their weapons....Yet, the sudden open door revealed no one there. “Must’ve been the wind or something.”

Junior- “Oh yeah the wind killed the lights too?”

Roman- “Maybe a circuit blew, you know where the breaker is Ozzy?”

Ozpin- “It should be in the supply closet, closer to the entrance of this building.”, Ozpin rummaged through his drawers until he took out a flashlight to toss to Junior. Then bringing out a second one for himself and grabbed his cane to follow Junior who was following Roman as they exited the office and peeked outside into the dark hallway.

Stepping out of the office one by one to feel that it was strangely more darker than it was before they knew the lights went off. “It’s that one right there.”, Ozpin shining his light to the far left where they saw the door when the three grown men felt a chill go past them.

Junior- “Damn...was it always this cold?”

Roman- “It’s just your imagination, come on.”, leading them through the dark and quiet hallway even though he himself was starting to feel that they were being watched again. But he ignored cause he knew if he said something it would just freak the two out even more and continued to lead until they were at the door.

Ozpin handed his light to Roman before talking a key ring and shifted through the keys before using one of them to unlock the door. Except he suddenly fell back which caught Roman and Junior’s attention that made them drop their flashlights and swung towards the door with the crowbar and the bat.

Hearing a crack when Ozpin grabbed the flashlight to see that what caught him off guard was a falling broom to which due to Roman and Junior’s swing broke in half after hitting it. “You alright Ozzy?”

Roman reached a hand, “Y-yes. I’m quite alright just a bit startled.”, taking his hand to stand up before the two men grabbed their flashlights and shined inside the supply closet to reveal the breaker. Ozpin entered to walk towards the breaker and Roman gestured Junior to follow him in while he stayed outside to shine the light back down the hallway.

He squinted as he thought he saw something far off at the end of the hallway and when he blinked once he saw the shadow figure that appeared to be a girl with long hair covering her face save for her smile that glistened white through the darkness. Taken aback but as soon as he blinked again the figure disappeared and he chalked it up to just being tired. Then the lights turned on  for the two to come walking out, “You figure out the problem?

Walking out together for Junior to come out with a broken piece of wood, “Looks like the old shelf cracked and this fell on the switch to turn it off.”

Roman- “See? No ghosts. Now if we’re done here lets go home.”

Junior- “Don’t we gotta turn off the lights?”

Ozpin- “They’ll turn themselves off in about thirty minutes, we should go.”

Agreeing on that they exited the administration building to cross towards the gate when Roman glanced over to the left towards the buildings for the high school division to see the shine of a light in one of them. “Oz, thought you said the janitor left already.”

Ozpin- “He did.... There shouldn’t be anyone else here.”

Junior- “Should we check it out?”

Roman- “I’ll check it out, you two head home.”

Junior- “What? You can’t go alone when this place is already creepy as hell.”

Roman- “You two are already jumpy over nothing.”

Ozpin- “It’s better if we go in with numbers Roman.”

Sighing at his companions but grateful as he couldn’t shake the image of the shadow girl in the admin building even though he’d never show this nervous fear to them. Together they headed into and entered the building that was strangely unlocked already. Finding themselves in the same darkness as before but the notion that there was something or someone else here weighed the feeling of being watched even more. “God...why did you choose to work at a school? Damn schools and hospitals are the creepiest at night.”

Roman- “That why you always left before the sun went down while I was in the hospital Junny?”

Junior- “Not like you didn’t mistake some old people for ghosts because of how pale they were Torchy.”

Roman- “Enough of the ghosts, you’re putting Ozpin on more edge.”, pointing to his side for Junior to notice Ozpin was sticking rather closely to Roman. Though the expression on the principal’s face was one they recognized that he was stuck in imagination mode.

Hearing what sounded like thumping he pried Ozpin’s fingers off his right arm before he gestured to Junior to stay quiet and help Ozpin. Walking to stop at a corner and he peered down the hallway to see there was a light gleaming under the double doors at the end. “Oz.”, turning to see Ozpin still frozen before he lightly tapped his right arm to get him into focus, “Oz! What room is that at the end?”

Ozpin peered around Roman to look down the hallway before returning to stand next to Junior, “Those doors should lead to the gym, where students go to workout.”

“Alright, Junior follow me. Ozpin stay behind us in case something happens.”

Nodding their heads for Roman and Junior to lead side by side while Ozpin followed behind shining the light down the way. The thumping got louder and awfully rhythmatic as they quietly approached the door. Putting his hand on the door made him feel a sense of deja vu as he remembered the first incident with the silver sisters’ cat being the culprit which gave him a strange feeling. 

He and Junior pressed the doors wide up with their weapons up as they heard a rather adorable squeak while they were adjusting their eyes to the light. “Is that....Velvet?”, looking past some heavy equipment to see a young woman whose long brown hair was tied in a ponytail and wearing short top and tight gym shorts stand next to a punching bag.

“Miss Scarlatina and...Mr. Winchester?”, assuming the high pitched squeak came from her Roman turned to the large man who was holding on to the punching bag before they went to sit on a bench. “P-principal and....Ro-Mr. Torchwick?”

Roman looked both relieved and annoyed as the feeling of being ridiculous was coming back but he could hear Ozpin and Junior sigh in relief. “What the heck are you guys doing here this late?”

Velvet approached the trio looking nervous and embarrassed as she was pressing her fingers together, “I-i was just, I mean this isn’t what-”, mumbling a bunch of words when a heavy tap on her left shoulder stopped her.

He honestly thought she would have jumped five feet in the air if the hand didn’t stop her, “Night training.”, the big man called Winchester answered for her.

Ozpin- “Training for what exactly?”

Winchester- “Velvet’s been slacking in her training so coach told me to help her catch up, but she said she’s too scared to train when everyone is here so we’ve been here for the past week working things at night.”

Leaving Ozpin to talk with the big student and he saw Junior had just picked up a phone call so he sneaked over to Velvet who was looking relieved. Though poking both her sides at the same time destroyed that peace instantly with another cute squeak to accompany it. “D-don’t do that Roman!”

“You deserved it, making us think it was a ghost. Though....can’t say this is a pretty scary development; sweet little Velvet at night, alone with a boy, and barely dressed.”, seeing the blush spread to the rest of her face as she wrapped her arms around herself which made him only laugh.

After his laughter died down, “So what’s the guy’s story?”, pointing over to the student who was still conversing with Ozpin. “That’s Cardin Winchester, the kickboxing club’s freshman rookie champ.”

“....That kid is a freshman? He’s huge.”

“He was kind of scary when I first met him, but he’s nice even though he doesn’t show it.”

“I’m sure any boy will be nice when you look like that Vel.”, tapping her shoulder as he pointed her sportswear and didn’t have to look at her face to see the red while he went over to Ozpin and Cardin.

Ozpin- “I’ll talk more about this matter to your coach tomorrow Mr. Winchester. While I personally don’t mind you training with Miss Scarlatina, I do have to worry about you two coming here at night especially alone.”

Cardin- “Sigh...got it.”

Roman- “So, we good here Ozzy?”

Ozpin- “We’re fine, do you mind if we wait for Mr. Winchester and Miss Scarlatina to change before we leave?”

Roman looked around to push a dumbbell off a bench before sitting on it and taking out his phone, “Fine with me.”

Cardin grabbed his bag and headed for the locker rooms while Ozpin went to Junior who was finishing a call. Roman checked his messages, “So why are you guys here anyway?”

“Ozzy called me and I called my buddy Junior cause he’s not that great in creepy places. Also you know I’m gonna get back at you right?”

“W-what did I do?”

“The creepy long hair girl act back at the admin office. Gotta admit even I was nervous after seeing that.”

“Um....I’ve been here with Cardin the entire time Roman.”

Thinking back on it....the girl he saw was too short. He looked at Velvet’s teeth which made her cover her teeth, “W-what’s that look for?”, and while they were very white there was no way they would have shined like they did.

“If...if that wasn’t you then....”, feeling a chilly feeling as he turned his attention to Cardin who pushed the locker room door to enter. But as the door was swinging close he saw the same long haired covered girl with a grin that went from cheek to cheek but her eyes were visible with a crimson red. “Cardin!”


End file.
